


Home

by azbear, firecracker189



Series: Just A Happy Avengers Non-Sexual Age Play AU [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: ABDL, Age Play, Baby Bruce, Baby Steve, Bathing/Washing, I'll just add tags later, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Mind Control, Non-Sexual Age Play, Occasional spankings, Past Child Abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Steve Rogers Has PTSD, Therapist Sam Wilson, Therapy, Wetting, how do I tag??, little Steve, little clint, little loki
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-25
Updated: 2018-06-23
Packaged: 2018-08-24 13:37:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 33
Words: 138,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8374150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/azbear/pseuds/azbear, https://archiveofourown.org/users/firecracker189/pseuds/firecracker189
Summary: Steve has been little since the 40's. He and his daddy were frozen after defeating Red Skull and nearly 70 years later, they’re found again and forced to learn to live in the 21st century. Luckily, they have a few helping hands.(I swear the actual story is better than this, I suck at summaries...and tagging things...and titles...and life in general.. ccc:)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay I apologize that this is probably confusing and not realistic but I mean... it's fanfiction... how often is fanfiction actually 100% realistic?  
> I know it'll say all this later (one thing not for a few chapters and it'll say then but I'll tell you now and remind you later) but here are the littles' ages:  
> Steve: barely 2, but he tries to act older because he's always been trying out littles older than him (his daddy is Bucky)  
> Clint: (I don't think it says the first half of this anywhere but just so you know) used to be about 1 and a half when he started with his daddy (Phil), but now he's 5 (they've been doing this for like 10-ish years by this point. I think. It might have been longer.. see, I don't even know this crap .-.)  
> Bruce: as of right now, he is not little and hE won't be until about the 5th or 6th chapter but he will be about 1 and a half (his daddy shall be Tony because I am the author and what I say goes. Don't worry I have a plan)  
> This doesn't really follow the comics (haha I never read them so obviously not) or the movies (I've seen those quite a few times though ^^) AT ALL besides like...nothing yet. You'll see slight similarities but nah so don't be afraid of spoilers if you have yet to see something. But if there is ever a spoiler or a bad warning for violence or something I will let you know right at the beginning.  
> Do I have anything else to add? Probably but I can't think of it. So I'll be going now and let you read this and possibly judge me. Enjoy cc:

Steve woke up really cold hearing static on the radio before it started playing a lullaby. He whined at the cold, thinking his blanket probably fell off in his sleep. He cleared his voice before calling out.

"Daddy?" He whimpered. "Dada, cold. Daddddyy." Steve opened his eyes and looked around, confused. This isn't his room. He suddenly remembered everything that's happened the last few days. He was definitely not supposed to be big that day on the plane, but Daddy was there protecting him. He was supposed to be little and play with all his friends and cuddle with his Daddy, but it was important to be on the plane fighting Red Skull.

Steve remembered the crash. He remembered reaching for Daddy and crying for him in the icy cold water. He knew Daddy didn't mean to leave him, but he fell out of the plane and Steve was alone. And littles are never supposed to be alone like that. He was terrified, but it didn't take long for him to pass out and then he wasn't scared anymore because he was going to be with Daddy.

Except now he's awake and he's really cold and he doesn't know where he is and Daddy's not there!

Steve started crying and shaking. He doesn't even have his blankie or his bear. He's had his blankie since he was born and his teddy bear since his 7th birthday where Bucky gave it to him.

"Captain Rogers," a lady greeted, walking into his room.

"Where am I?" Steve cried. "Where's Daddy?"

The lady walked over and crouched next to him. "You're in a recovery room in New York. We're still looking for your daddy." Steve heard the static on the radio again and jumped, quickly bringing his thumb to his mouth. "I'm sorry, sweetie. This radio is very old. It doesn't work properly." Steve continued crying with his thumb in his mouth.

"Want Daddy. And Bear."

"We still don't know where your dad is, but we're gonna get you your teddy bear soon, okay?"

"Tay. Cold." Steve looked down at his thin pants and t-shirt, shivering.

"Okay, let's get you in some jammies. Sound good?" Steve nodded and sat still while the nurse got pajamas for him. They were blue with green dinosaurs, cowboys, and spacemen. The nurse stripped him and changed his diaper before putting the fleece pajamas on him along with blue fuzzy socks. "I'm going to go get you a bottle. I'll be right back." Steve nodded and looked outside into the hallway, confused because it didn't look like a hospital hallway. Steve shakily climbed out of the bed and tiptoed to the door. He looked outside and his eyes widened. This doesn't look anything like a hospital or anything he's used to. He managed to see a calendar across the room and tiptoed out of the room to the calendar.

 **November 18, 2011**.

Steve saw people moving towards him and ran away outside of the building he was in and just got more confused when he saw the cars and buildings and big signs. He ended up falling onto his butt as he cried. A tall man that looked kind of like a pirate got there and knelt down next to him.

"Hello, Captain," he greeted. "Let's go somewhere quiet so I can explain everything to you." Steve nodded and reached his arms up. The pirate helped him stand and got him seated in a car seat with a bottle. Steve continued crying quietly as he drank his bottle, afraid. The pirate put on lullabies until they got to their destination and Steve got to come out of the car seat and follow the pirate into a new building.

"Daddy here?" Steve asked, holding the pirate's hand as he was led to the elevator.

"No, Captain, I'm sorry. People are still looking for him. We'll find him, I promise."

"Otay, Mr. Pirate."

"My name is actually Director Fury."

"D-diecter Furry?"

"Close enough. Do you want to hit that button? The number 62?"

"Uh-huh." Steve held tightly to Fury's hand and pressed the button, gasping when it lit up.

"Good job, kiddo." Steve smiled. When they stopped moving, Director Fury took Steve and sat him in a chair. "Alright. Now how old are you, Steve?"

"I'm dis many," Steve answered, holding up two fingers.

"Do you think you could be a few more than that? Like 19 more." Steve pouted, but worked on aging up. It took ten minutes for him to be big. He was still terrified, though and really confused.

"W-where am I?" Steve asked. "I'm big now, just tell me where I am and what's going on."

"You're at S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters in New York. It's 2011."

"How? It was 1944 when Bucky and I went in the plane...."

"When the plane crashed, Bucky fell out. We're still looking for him. Because of the cold water, you froze, just like an ice cube. We found you, a few weeks ago, and got you unfrozen. Then it was just a matter of waiting for you to wake up."

"The war...who won?"

"We won, Cap." Steve smiled. So this wasn't all for nothing. "Things nowadays are very different from your time."

"I can tell."

"More than just the cars and technology, Cap. I can explain that at a later date, though."

"Does the military still have people who are little?"

"More than just the military. Probably about 70% of people in the world are in a big, little relationship. The military is just more strict. Especially after someone leaves a war or something. They have to be with their big all the time and have to be little at least 60% of the week. That's around 4-5 days."

"My big is lost."

"I know. You'll need to temporarily find a new one until Bucky is found and safe and alive and mentally able to take care of you again."

"No. I don't want a new daddy. I want my daddy. I won't have a new one."

"You have to. I'm sure we'll find him soon."

"No!" Fury sighed, extremely frustrated.

"You need to see a doctor to make sure you're okay. I'll bring you down to medical, so you can see a doctor, then we'll discuss this more."

"I don't want to see a doctor. I don't like them."

"I know, but you need to see one. Come with me. Now." Steve huffed, but stood up and followed Director Fury to medical. There was an entire special area dedicated to littles. That's where Steve was led to.

"Hi, sweetie," a doctor greeted.

"I'm not little right now," Steve explained.

"You don't need to be little to be sweet. Can you hold this under your tongue for me?" Steve opened his mouth and allowed the thermometer to be shoved under his tongue while the doctor took his blood pressure. "There you go. 97.1 degrees Fahrenheit. A slightly lower temperature probably makes sense. That's fine, just gotta keep you nice and warm. Fleece pajamas are a good idea."

"Can I go now?" Steve whimpered.

"You're not done with your checkup yet, buddy." Steve whined as he had his ears, eyes, and throat checked too. His heart and lungs were also checked. "There you go. Very good. Do you wear diapers?"

"Yeah," Steve blushed. It's not embarrassing when he's little, but he hates being in diapers while he's big.

"Okay. We're almost done. We just need a blood test and a urine sample."

"Then I can leave?" Steve whimpered.

"Soon, buddy. Can you go potty in a cup for me?" Steve blushed, but took the cup to the bathroom.

"I don't like needles," Steve whimpered when he was sitting back on the bed.

"Just close your eyes and count backwards from 100. Slowly." Steve did as he was told, wincing when he felt the needle. Between the numbers 30 and 19, he felt 4 more needles in his thighs after his pants were pulled down. "There you go, bud. All done! You can leave now." Steve sniffled and slipped out of the bed, pulling his pants up. He winced again at how much his thighs hurt and followed Director Fury back to his office.

"I still don't want a new daddy."

"It's only temporarily."

"No."

"What a shame. If you had agreed we could have talked about getting you back in the field." Steve peeked up, intrigued.

"I can help again?" Fury nodded. "But I don't want a new daddy."

"How about we make a deal?"

"A deal?"

"Yeah. Are you listening?" Steve nodded. "Okay. So how about I put you on a team. But on one condition. You will let them take care of you. People in S.H.I.E.L.D. who are littles, have to be little at least 2 to 4 days a week when they're not on a mission."

"Fine," Steve pouted. "When will I go?"

"I don't actually have the team together. I have them picked out, but I need to talk to them first. It should take a week at the most. For now, you're going to stay with one of your soon to be teammates and his daddy. They already know. Your teammate, Clint, is real excited to play with you. Think you're ready to go meet them?"

"That nurse when I woke up said she was gonna get my teddy bear. How? Where is he?"

"He's with Phil and Clint waiting for you." Steve nodded, nervously and stuck his thumb in his mouth, following Director Fury to his new caretaker's apartment.

"Daddy, they're here!" A voice called from inside. "Can I let Nicky in?!" Another voice answered yes, so the door swung open to reveal a smiling man in shorts and a long sleeved shirt with cartoon characters on it. "Hi, Nicky!" He smiled and hugged Director Fury, before seeing Steve. "Hello, Steve! I'm Clint!"

"H-hi," Steve whispered. Another man came to the door, this time in jeans and a plain blue t-shirt.

"Hello, Steve," he smiled. "I'm Phil." Steve just waved, quietly while he continued sucking his thumb. "Do you wanna come inside?"

"Bear?" Steve asked around his thumb.

"Your teddy bear is waiting for you in Clint's room. Why doesn't he bring you there?" Steve looked up slightly at Director Fury who nodded. Steve looked back at Clint and followed him to his room while the adults stayed and talked.

"You're gonna stay with me and Daddy for a while until your Daddy is finded," Clint explained. "You get to stay in my room in my old crib, because Daddy says you're just a baby and babies sleep in cribs."

"'M not a baby," Steve insisted as he ran to Clint's race car bed to grab his teddy bear. He hugged his bear tightly.

"That bear is almost as big as me," Clint giggled.

"Usedta be bigger den me when I got it. I missed my bear."

"I bet he missed you more," Phil said, walking into the nursery.

"What's your bear's name?" Clint asked.

"Bear."

"I know it's a bear, silly; what's the bear's name?"

"Bear!"

"His name is Bear?"

"Uh-huh."

"Cool name! This is Esther the Elephant." Clint shoved his favorite pink elephant in Steve's face, making him whine.

"Clint, what did I say about shoving things in people's faces?" Phil demanded, walking to Steve and rubbing his back.

"Not to," Clint mumbled. "Sorry, Stevie." Steve stuck his thumb in his mouth while he hugged his teddy bear in his other arm.

"It's otay," Steve whispered.

"Alright. How about some lunch, boys? I made macaroni and cheese."

"Yay! Let's go, Stevie!" Clint grabbed Steve's shirt sleeve and dragged him to the kitchen table. "Daddy, does the baby have to sit in a highchair too?"

"No. He can sit in a big boy chair. What do you two want to drink?" Phil put their bowls in front of them and went to the cabinet to get out a sippy cup and a bottle. Clint only drinks from a bottle when he's sick or injured or just too sleepy to hold a sippy cup.

"Apple juice, please!" Clint said, shoving a big spoonful of macaroni into his mouth. Steve slowly sat his bear on the chair next to him and took a small bite of his food.

"Steve? What do you want to drink?"

"Water, pwease," Steve whispered. Phil gave both the boys their drinks before sitting down to eat his lunch. "Where Diecter Furry?"

"He had to go back to work. Don't worry. You'll see him around." Steve nodded and picked up his bottle, taking a long sip.

"How old are you, Stevie?" Clint wondered through a mouthful of food. "Daddy said you're a baby, but didn't say your age."

"Uh...dis many," Steve answered, showing two fingers.

"Oh. I'm five. Do you like cars?" Steve nodded. "Good! We can play with my cars after lunch!"

Steve hummed and finished eating his lunch, allowing Phil to wash his hands and face. Clint finished too and whined about getting cleaned up, but let his daddy clean him up.

"Here, Stevie, have this car!"

"No," Steve said. "Could I color instead?"

"Daddy," Clint whined. "The baby is boring."

"I'm not a baby!" Steve whined back.

"He's not boring, bug, he just doesn't want to play right now. You know how you feel after you wake up from a coma?" Clint has been in a coma a couple of times after missions. He always feels scared and confused when he wakes up. Clint nodded. "That's how Steve is feeling, but a thousand times worse. Let him settle in."

"Okay, Daddy," Clint pouted. "Can I still play with my cars, though?"

"If you want to. Can you go get Steve some of your coloring books and crayons, please?" Clint nodded and ran to his room to gather a bunch of coloring books and his favorite crayons.

"Here, Stevie! You can use any book you want! And these are my favorite crayons; look! There's a crayon sharpener in the back!" Steve reached for the crayons from where he sat on the floor. "Look. You just take a crayon, put it in here, and turn it." Clint demonstrated the instructions. "And then you take the crayon out and look! It's sharpened! Here. Just be really careful."

"Such a good boy," Phil commented. Clint smiled and handed Steve the crayon box, then went over to his cars. Steve colored in a picture of a purple frog sitting on a red lily pad in pink water. Phil washed the dishes while the boys played.

"Daddy!" Clint whined while Phil was doing paperwork. "Steve smells!"

"That's not nice," Phil frowned. "Apologize."

"Sorry, but he does! I think he pooped."

"Oh." Phil put all his papers down on the table and walked over to Steve, crouching in front of him and whispering. "Steve, did you poop?" Steve blushed and quietly nodded. "Come on, let's go get you taken care of. Clint, stay here and play with your cars. Be good."

"Okay, Daddy." Phil stood back up and helped Steve stand and walk to the nursery. Phil spread a towel out on the floor and grabbed the diapers, wipes, and powder.

"Sowwy," Steve sniffled when he had a clean diaper on.

"It's okay, Steve. I don't mind changing you. Clint won't admit it, but he's had a few oopses too the last few years. You're just a baby, it's expected of you."

"Not a baby," Steve mumbled, crossing his arms over his chest and totally not pouting. Daddy doesn't like when he pouts. He says anything other than a smile on Steve's face makes him sad, so Steve doesn't pout or frown or anything that would make Daddy sad. At least he tries not to.

"Of course not. You're a big boy, right?" Steve nodded. "Well, it can be expected of big boys to do that too sometimes. Especially after something really scary or stressful."

"But I always do it."

"That's perfectly okay, Steve. Come on. Let's put your pants back on and go watch a movie with Clint."

"Otay. Bear?"

"Of course Bear will watch too! We can't leave him out, now can we?"

"No, Phil." Steve stood up when his pants were back in place and he waddled out to his bear. These diapers are thicker than what he had on before. The diaper he was wearing before was only slightly thicker than a pull-up. These are more like the diapers he used to wear.

"Stevie, do you wanna pick a movie?" Clint asked.

Steve hugged his bear tightly and nodded, following Clint to all the kiddie movies. He sat down to look at them all. He's never seen so many movies before! "All of dem."

"We can't watch them all at the same time, silly! There's only one TV! And there are at least 10 movies."

"You're not wrong," Phil shrugged, crouching next to the boys after washing his hands. They have every Disney and Pixar movie there is, even if Clint doesn't like that one. He still insists on owning all of them. "How about we watch this one?" Phil pulled out Tangled to show Steve.

"Otay. Have a baba, pwease?"

"I'll get you a bottle after I put the disc in. Clint, do you want anything to drink, buddy?"

"Chocolate milk, please, Dada." Clint grabbed the remote and sat on the couch waiting to put the movie on.

"Okay. Steve? Do you want chocolate milk too or regular milk?"

"Um...chocowate?"

"Okay, bud. I'll be right back." Steve nodded and crawled to the couch with Bear, eventually climbing up and sitting next to Clint.

"Your Daddy nice."

"Of course he is. He's an awesome Daddy! He's always super nice, even when I'm bad," Clint smiled. "Is your Daddy nice?"

"Uh-huh," Steve sniffled. He really misses his daddy now.... He wants Daddy to give him a big hug now and a hundred thousand kissies. "Daddy weally nice. Always cuddles and gives me kisses and tickles. Want Daddy." Steve didn't mean to start crying, but one minute he was hugging Bear, then he was suddenly crying into Clint's chest.

"Shh, it's okay, Baby," Clint whispered, rubbing Steve's back the way Daddy always does when he's like this. "People are looking for your daddy. He'll be found soon and then you can have all the hugs and kisses you want!"

"W-want Daddy now!" Steve cried harder into Clint's chest.

"I know, Baby, I know. I always want my daddy after something bad or scary happens. Daddy said something really bad and scary happened to you. But you'll have your daddy soon." Steve sniffled and cuddled into Clint's side.

"What happened here? I was only gone for 3 minutes," Phil frowned when he returned.

"The baby misses his daddy."

"'M not a baby," Steve mumbled, cuddling closer.

"Daddy will be here soon, Steve. Everybody promises. Here, let's have some milk and cuddles and watch our movie." Phil handed out chocolate milk and sat in between the boys, letting them both cuddle onto him.

"Bear."

"Your bear is right here on the floor. There's not enough room for him on the couch."

"Bear." Steve grabbed his bear's ear and started dragging him onto the couch.

"Oh boy. Okay, here you go, buddy." Phil helped pull Bear onto the couch and Steve hugged him tightly while he drank his chocolate milk and watched the movie.

After the movie, Steve took a short nap while Clint played with his daddy. Phil tried to get Clint to have a nap too (he tries everyday), but Clint refused, saying he's a big boy and doesn't need a nap (which he always says unless he's sick). Another movie was put on after Steve woke up, then Phil made dinner for the boys.

"Yummy," Steve commented as he ate pasta with his fingers. If he had done that around Daddy, he probably would have gotten spanked. (That's why he was always fed instead of being allowed to eat by himself.) But earlier, Steve saw Clint eat using his fingers a few times, so Steve completely ignored his fork when Phil gave it to him.

"Yeah?" Phil smiled. Steve nodded, shoving another handful of spaghetti in his mouth.

"It really is yummy, Daddy!" Clint exclaimed. "Too yummy to use a fork." Clint slowly put his fork on the table.

"Don't. You. Dare. Steve doesn't know any better. You do." Clint huffed and picked his fork back up.

"Steve bad?" Steve sniffled, looking up innocently with sauce all over his hands and face and even in his hair.

"No, Steve, you're not bad. I would just rather you use a fork to eat next time. Or I can feed you."

"I use fork." Steve picked his fork up in slippery hands and took a bite of his food.

"Good job, buddy. You're still getting a bath after dinner, though." Steve whined and Clint smirked at the baby. Phil saw the smirk and didn't like it. "You're getting a bath too, little hawk."

"But Daddy!" Clint whined.

"Don't 'but Daddy' me, Clint. You're covered in sauce too and you haven't even had a bath in 3 days. It's time." Clint pouted and they finished their dinner in silence. "Okay. Do you two wanna take your bath together or are you going to be good while I give Steve his bath, Clint?"

"Together!" Clint exclaimed.

"Steve? Are you okay with taking a bath with Clint?"

"Uh-huh," Steve nodded, sucking sauce off his thumb. He's used to taking baths with other people. He's been taking them with Daddy ever since they were kids and he's taken baths with some of the other littles at his base. He prefers taking baths with just his daddy, though, because Daddy always sits and plays whatever he wants him to (usually the game where Steve gets to be the prince that slays the evil dragon taking all the rubber duckies) and Daddy is a lot gentler and gives his back and shoulders a little massage while washing him. Bath time is one of Steve's favorite parts of the day (after he gets past the not wanting to sit still in a tub part).

"Let's go get you two cleaned up." Phil led the boys to the bathroom and started the bath while Clint went potty and Steve continued sucking sauce from his fingers, more sleepily now.

"Is the baby gonna have an accident in the tub?" Clint frowned, making Steve whine. He doesn't have enough energy to complain about being called a baby again.

"He shouldn't. Do you want to try to go potty first, Steve?" Phil asked. Steve shook his head no. "You're not going to have any accidents in the tub, right? You're a big boy."

"Big boy," Steve confirmed around his fingers.

Phil smiled. "Alright, that's what I thought. Now let's get you in the tub. Clint, you can strip and climb in if you want. Bring 4 of your toys."

"Only 4?" Clint whined.

"Only 4." Clint sighed, but did what he was asked to do while Phil pulled Steve's clothes and diaper off him.

"In?" Steve asked. Phil nodded and gave Steve a hand to hold while he stepped into the tub and sat down with Clint.

"Look, baby!" Clint picked his bath toys up to show Steve. "I have more, but Daddy said only 4. But this is Sally the Shark–"

"Last bath his name was Nathan," Phil said. Clint ignored his daddy to keep talking to Steve.

"Sally is really nice unless she's hungry. Luckily, she only eats fish once a week, and she had a lot of fish a few days ago, so she's still full. This is my boat. It's really cool because it moves with a remote, but I lost the remote. It might be at Auntie Nat's apartment. This isn't really a bath toy, but it's a dinosaur, so it's awesome. Todd–"

"And his name was Robert last week."

"Todd the T-Rex is best friends with Sally. And Todd doesn't even need to eat because he's dead and dead things don't eat!"

"Four?" Steve said.

"What do you mean 'four'?"

"Four toy. One, two, thwee." Steve pointed at each of the toys Clint showed him.

"Oh yeah. I also brought my bath crayons in case you didn't wanna play my toys and you wanna draw."

"Baf cwayon?"

"Yeah! Look, you can color on the walls. See?" Clint drew a purple smiley face to show him.

"Oh! I twy?"

"Here." Clint gave Steve one of the crayons and Steve drew while Clint played with Phil. After a few minutes, Phil washed the boys off and started drying Clint in a fluffy towel covered in frogs while Steve finished his drawing.

"What did you draw, baby?" Clint wondered while his head was covered in a towel to dry his hair.

"Bear and Es-Es-uh...."

"Esther?!" Clint pulled the towel away from his head, smiling when he saw his elephant holding Bear's paw. "It's really nice, Stevie. You're a good drawer."

"Tank you." Steve made a quick little doodle of a train while Phil finished drying Clint off.

"Go get a pull-up and some pajamas on, Clinty. We'll be in for a story in a few minutes," Phil said, lightly smacking his little boy's bottom to get him moving. Next, he grabbed another fluffy towel (covered in fish this time) and helped Steve out of the tub, drying him off.

"Cold," Steve frowned when Phil tossed the towel in the laundry basket.

"Let's get you in some pajamas, then. Clint helped me shop for your clothes on the computer a few days ago. They all just got here yesterday." Steve followed Phil to the nursery, laying on the towel on the floor for a diaper.

"I thought I told you to put your pajamas on," Phil said to Clint while he put a diaper on Steve.

"It's hot," Clint explained, hiding under all his blankets in his bed wearing just a pull-up.

"It's 40 degrees out. It's not hot. Let me get Steve dressed, then I'll help you."

"No, I can do it, Daddy!" Clint yelled, jumping out of bed and running to his dresser to find his warm fuzzy shark pajamas and put them on.

"Bear?" Steve asked.

"I put Bear in your crib, baby!" Steve nodded and stuck his thumb in his mouth, looking up at Phil who was taking out a few pairs of pajamas for him.

"Wanna chose which ones to wear tonight?" Phil asked. Steve gave his thumb a thoughtful suck while he looked at the pajamas. They all look equally warm and soft.... He eventually decided on a yellow footed sleeper with teddy bears all over them. "I'll find your pacifiers for you later." Phil gently tugged Steve's thumb out of his mouth.

"Story now?" Clint asked from his bed, sweating now under 7 blankets.

"In a minute, bug. Do you want a bottle or a cup?"

"Cup!" Phil nodded and said he'd get their milk in a minute. He pulled down the side of the crib and Steve climbed in, hugging his bear tightly.

"Clint, Steve only has one thin blanket. Do you think he could have a couple of yours?" Clint frowned, but nodded.

"Not my Nemo blanket, though!"

"Of course not your Nemo blanket. Thank you, Clint." Phil gave Clint his Nemo blanket the day they started ageplay (which was only a few days after Finding Nemo came out. They went to see it together in the movie theater about a month later when Clint was a little more comfortable with ageplay.) and he's never slept without it.

Phil took three of the blankets and placed them over Steve, saying he'd get another one for him when he got their milk. "There you go, little guy. I'll be right back with a nice warm bottle for you. I'm sure Clint already picked out a book for me to read you."

Twenty-five minutes later, the kids were sleeping next to their half empty bottles and sippy cups of warm milk.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't think there are really any warnings for this chapter besides Steve having a panic attack and Phil swatting his backside (not bc of the panic attack, bc of something that happens later) but yeah, just letting you know in case you don't like reading about panic attacks (it doesn't really talk about it much or from Steve's POV at all but eh) or about 24 year olds who are mentally 2 years old getting spanked (and it's not really spanked, it's 3 swats, but again, eh. Also should I warn about swats/spanking in the future or nah?)  
> Oh, and might I add, I own absolutely nothing in this (character, etc wise) I just came up with the idea for the story at like 3 am when I was trying to sleep (aka watching YouTube) one day.. c:

_"Come here, baby boy," Daddy called. Steve looked up and ran to his daddy, leaping into his arms._

_"Hi, Daddy!" Daddy grunted as he caught his baby, but lifted him onto his hip anyway. He's a lot heavier than he used to be after the serum. "Love you, Dada."_

_"I love you too, baby. But we have to be big now and go do something very important." Daddy put him on his feet. "Let's go, Captain."_

_\---_

_"Daddy?" Steve whined, scared. Red Skull has been defeated, but Daddy is flying the plane now and talking frantically to Aunt Peggy. Steve slipped back into his little space when Daddy sat in the pilot seat._

_"I love you, Steve. You've always been such a good boy," Aunt Peggy cried._

_"Love you too, Aunt Peggy. Cuddles when us get back?"_

_"Of course. Of course, Steve. You bring him back here, Bucky Barnes. Come home with hi-" Aunt Peggy's voice cut off and Steve whined again._

_"Scared, Daddy. Want Aunt Peggy."_

_"I know, baby. I know. I'm so sorry we have to do this. You wanna keep everyone safe, don't you?"_

_"Yah."_

_"Okay then we have to do this. I'm so sorry. I love you baby boy. Come sit with Daddy." Steve sniffled and climbed onto Daddy's lap and hugged him tightly, crying._

_The plane crashed into the water. It was very cold and scary and the side of the plane blew up. Steve screamed and Daddy quickly stood and put him in the seat, buckling him in._

_"I love you, baby. So so much."_

_"Daddy!" Steve cried as something hit Daddy's head and he got knocked out. "No, Daddy! Wake up!" The plane tilted and Daddy slipped out of the hole in the side._

"Stevie! Wake up!" Steve's eyes flew open and he saw a very blurry Clint standing next to an equally blurry Phil over his crib. "Was you having a bad dream?"

"Clint, go warm this up," Phil whispered, handing his little boy Steve's bottle. Clint took it and went to do as he was told, looking back at the baby worriedly. "Do you wanna come out and have a cuddle?"

Steve nodded, sobbing. Phil helped him out of the crib and took him out to the couch, grunting quietly when Steve sat on his lap. "Want Daddy!" He sobbed.

"I know, buddy. I know. People are looking for him right now."

"Daddy f-falled outta-outta da p-p-plane!"

"Oh, Steve...." Steve hid his face in Phil's shirt, sobbing.

"Here, Daddy," Clint whispered, handing the bottle to his daddy.

"Thank you, Clint. Do you want a bottle, Steve? Hm?" Steve nodded, laying down on Phil's lap. Phil carefully put the bottle in his mouth and Steve started drinking. Clint sat on the couch next to his daddy and looked at the baby, worriedly.

"Did the baby had a bad dream?" Clint asked.

"Yeah, I think so. He'll be fine, though. Right, buddy?" Steve blinked up at Phil through teary eyes.

"Will he cry again if I hug him?"

"I don't think so, but just let him have his bottle first. You can give him a hug after."

"Okay, Daddy." Clint hugged Esther tightly and rested his head on his daddy's shoulder, sleepily.

"Bear?" Steve whined when he finished his bottle.

"Okay. Let's go change your diaper and you can go back to sleep and cuddle your bear. Sound good?"

"Otay."

"Hug first!" Clint exclaimed, making Steve flinch. He turned anyway, though and cuddled Phil and Clint for a good 10 minutes before he started falling asleep on Phil's lap.

"Okay, back to bed for you kiddos. Clint, do you wanna try to go potty before you go back to sleep?"

"I can do it!"

"Okay, bug. I'm gonna get Steve changed and back in bed, then I'll come check on you if you're not back yet."

"Okay, Daddy." Clint ran into the bathroom while Phil took Steve back to the nursery and changed his dirty diaper on the floor before helping him back into the crib.

"When find Daddy?" Steve whispered.

Phil smiled at Steve. He got an email after the boys went to sleep that said Bucky was found. He's not going to tell Steve until the morning, though, or he'll never go back to sleep, which will mean Clint won't go back to sleep, which will mean _Phil_ won't go back to sleep. "Soon, buddy, I'm sure. Now close your eyes and go back to sleep."

"Story? Pwease?"

"Wait until Clint comes back. I'm gonna go check on him, okay? I'll read another quick story, and then you two will go back to sleep for a few hours." Steve nodded and cuddled Bear while he waited.

Phil walked out of the nursery and knocked on the bathroom door before opening it a crack and peeking his head in to see Clint looking at his phone, confused. "Why do you have my phone?" Phil demanded.

"Wanted to play angry birds."

"You should have asked me first. Why are you looking at my phone like it grew a head and a tail and started singing a My Chemical Romance song?"

"Bucky got found?"

"Oh.... Yeah, I just got the email after you two went to bed. I didn't want to tell Steve yet because he needs to go back to sleep. It's only 2 AM. You should be asleep too."

"Is Steve gonna leave now that Bucky is found?"

Phil sighed and sat on the edge of the bathtub. "Not for a while, probably. You know Steve was found like 3 weeks ago and it took a while for him to wake up. It might take Bucky a little bit longer. And then he might not be ready to be a daddy again and he'll need a little while to collect himself and learn about the world now."

"Bucky might not wanna be Steve's daddy?" Clint's heart broke for his new friend.

"Of course he'll want to be Steve's daddy, but he might not be emotionally or mentally ready as soon as he wakes up. I don't think Steve will be big for a while unless he's told he has to be, and even then maybe not. He's not emotionally or mentally ready to be big, but he still wants to be big someday. He wouldn't have asked to be put on a team if he didn't. It might take time, though. It'll probably be like that with Bucky too."

"Oh." Clint nodded, everything his daddy told him sinking in.

"I don't like that you took my phone without asking me. Next time ask, please. Now are you done going potty?" Clint nodded and wiped, then pulled his pull-up and pants up before flushing and washing his hands. "Good job. Now how about another story to help everyone get back to sleep? Sound good?"

"Yeah, Daddy. Can I pick?"

"Of course, baby."

"Can I also help tell Stevie tomorrow?"

"Sure. Now let's go so we can read our story and get back to bed."

\---

"No."

"Steve, come on. Eat like a big boy."

"Not hungry." Steve's stomach betrayed him by growling.

"Yes you are. You're a super soldier, you need to eat a lot."

"No!"

"Why not? Hmm? Why don't you want to eat?"

"Daddy can't eat. Pwobably never will 'gain." Steve sniffled and dug his fingernails into his arm hard.

Phil sighed and gently took both of Steve's hands in his, not noticing the blood on Steve's arm now. "I didn't want to tell you this yet, because I wanted you to sleep and have breakfast first, and I didn't think you would if I told you this."

"It's not like he slept anyway," Clint huffed, chewing on a strawberry. Steve was up all night tossing and turning and crying, so poor Clint didn't get to sleep either. And now poor Phil is dealing with two very cranky littles. Hopefully Clint will take a nap later, and if he's lucky, Steve will join him.

"I know. I'm sorry you didn't get any sleep, bug. I think we'll all take a nap later. Maybe if you're good, we can even sleep in my bed."

"Okay, Daddy," Clint smiled. Steve sniffled again.

"Okay, Steve. After you went to bed last night, I got an email. They found your daddy." Steve's heart stopped.

"Daddy?" He whispered, shakily.

"Yeah, buddy. They found him. As far as I know, he's still sleeping, though. We don't know when he'll wake up. You were asleep for 3 weeks. He didn't have as much serum, so it might take longer, and then he might need some time to adjust before he can take care of you again."

"Visit?"

"I don't know if we're allowed. I'll ask after you eat your breakfast."

"I'm allowed," Steve said, picking up a blueberry and popping it in his mouth. "He my daddy. I'm allowed." Phil gently rubbed Steve's back for a second. He really hopes Steve can visit Bucky while he's still asleep.

"You won't be allowed if you don't go to sleep tonight," Clint threatened.

"No!" Steve sobbed. Way to go, Clint.

"Clint, don't say that! That's not true!" Phil pulled Steve onto his lap and rubbed his back until he calmed down. "Shh, it's okay. Go eat your breakfast, buddy."

"Want Daddy. Now," Steve whimpered. "Pwease?"

"Okay. Go eat while I call and see if you can visit your daddy."

"Otay." Steve wiped his eyes and slid off of Phil's lap.

Phil stepped away from the boys to call Bucky's doctor. Clint looked up from his pancakes and gasped when he saw blood on Steve's arm where his nails dug in. He looked from Phil to the baby. Phil is on the phone now and Steve looks like he's about to burst into sobs if he goes one more minute without his daddy.

"Come with me, baby," Clint commanded. He abandoned his pancakes and quickly washed his hands and face before taking the baby into the bathroom.

"Not a baby, Clinty," Steve sniffed, sitting on the closed toilet seat.

"Why didn't you tell my daddy your arm was bleedin'?" Clint wet a wash cloth while he spoke and Steve whined.

"No knowed. Ouchie!" Steve started crying when Clint started cleaning up his arm.

"I'm sorry, baby. Didn't mean to hurt you. I'm gonna make your arm all better now."

Clint carefully put disinfectant on the baby's injuries, then wrapped his arm up in bandages. Even when he's mentally a 5-year old, all his knowledge from S.H.I.E.L.D. etc. doesn't leave him. It just sits in the back of his mind unless he needs it. And one of the first things he learned at S.H.I.E.L.D. was how to properly take care of an injury. At least a small one like this. He has no idea how to perform a surgery or anything like that, but he highly doubts Steve will need him to.

"There! All done. Is your arm better now, Stevie?" Clint asked.

"Uh-huh." Steve kissed Clint's cheek to thank him.

"What are you two doing in here?" Phil asked, standing in the doorway of the bathroom.

"The baby got a boo boo. I taked care of it, Daddy! See? He's all better now."

"Good job, bug. If you're done with breakfast, why don't you go clean up your plate? Leave Steve's; I wanna see if I can get him to eat at least one pancake."

"Okay, Daddy. Be good, baby." Steve whined, but didn't bother telling Clint he's not a baby. It's no use. He must have told him 10 times since yesterday and he's still calling him a baby.

"Daddy?" Steve asked.

"I called to see if you could visit him today," Phil started. "Your daddy's doctor said you could go after lunch today if you're a good boy all day. That means you have to eat your breakfast, take a nap later, and then eat lunch." Okay, maybe those she didn't use those exact words, but Steve doesn't need to know that.

"Otay. I be good so see Daddy."

"Alright, buddy. Now let's go finish up breakfast and maybe Clint will let you pick out a movie again." Steve nodded and followed Phil back to the table to sit and be fed a pancake and a half. Phil cleaned his hands and face when he decided he was done.

"Clinty?" Steve asked, crawling to where Clint played sleepily with his toys.

"Hi, Steve," Clint greeted.

"Movie?"

"Okay. Go pick one and tell my daddy to put it on."

"Wead me names?"

"Okay." Steve crawled to the movie rack and Clint followed him with a stuffed dog. Steve picked a few movies from the rack and laid them out on the floor, waiting for Clint to tell him their names. "That one is _Aladdin_ , that's called _Inside Out,_ and that's _The Incredibles_. What one do you want to watch, Stevie?"

"Watch all."

"What one first?"

"Dis one?" Steve pointed at _The Incredibles_ , so Clint asked his daddy to put it on when he was done with the dishes. "Clinty?"

"Huh?" Clint sat back on the floor with his toys and Steve crawled over to him.

"I bwing Daddy picture?"

"Yeah! My daddy loves when I draw things for him." That's evident from all the childish (and a few not so childish) drawings all around the apartment. "Your daddy will probably love a picture too."

"Paper? And cwayons?"

"I'll get you some. Sit there and be a good baby until I get back."

"Not a baby," Steve mumbled to himself. He hates being called a baby by anyone other than Daddy.

Daddy has been calling him 'baby,' 'sweetie,' and other things like that since before they even started ageplay (which was shortly before Daddy had to leave with the 107th). Steve was the youngest person (in ageplay) at his base by at least a year and a half (the most common ages were about 4-6). Everyone always teased him and called him a baby.

Before he got the serum people thought he was younger than two–though, that might have been because he never did anything and he cried for his daddy a lot. Daddy never came, though, not until he rescued him. So Peggy decided to take care of him until his daddy returned since she was the only person he trusted, and she eventually became Aunt Peggy. Steve really misses Aunt Peggy....

"Aunt Peggy?" He asked when Phil entered the room.

"Who? Oh. Yeah. Do you miss your Aunt Peggy?" Phil asked. Steve nodded. "I'll see if I can find her and you can visit her one day."

"Otay."

"Here you go, Stevie!" Clint exclaimed, handing over the paper and crayons.

"Tank you." Steve put them on the coffee table and sat on his knees, angled so he could still see the TV while he worked on his picture for Daddy.

"What are you gonna draw?"

"Picture."

"A picture of what?"

"No know. Can bwing lotsa pictures?"

"You can bring as many pictures as you want," Phil told him.

"Otay!" Steve grabbed a crayon and began drawing while simultaneously watching the movie.

\---

"We see Daddy now?" Steve asked after he finished inhaling his lunch.

"Clint is still eating. We'll get dressed after he's done, then drop him off with his aunt and go see Daddy."

"Aunt Natasha?!" Clint gasped. It's been forever (3 days) since he saw his Aunt Natasha!

"Yeah, bug. You're gonna stay with Aunt Natasha for a few hours while Steve sees his daddy, then she'll bring you back and have dinner with us."

"Pizza for dinner, Daddy?"

"Sure, babe. Now finish eating, then go wash your hands and face. I'll go get Steve dressed and get your clothes out for you."

"Okay, Daddy!"

Phil kissed his little boy's head before gently grabbing Steve's hand and leading him to the sink to get cleaned up. "Lay down for a new diaper, Steve." Steve did as he was told and whined when his pajamas were taken off. It's so cold and his pajamas were so warm! "I know, buddy, I know it's cold. We gotta get you cleaned up. You don't want to go see Daddy with a dirty diaper do you? You might get a rash, and those are _not_ fun." Clint's gotten a few rashes from his pull-ups over the years and it's a living hell for all involved.

"Cold," Steve pouted. He grabbed his pajamas from where they were discarded next to him and covered his torso with them. Steve sucked his thumb while he waited for Phil to finish changing his diaper and get his clothes out for him. A navy blue long-sleeved onesie, gray sweatpants, and fuzzy green socks. They look comfy.

Steve sat up and held his arms up so Phil could put the onesie on him. Once he was dressed, Steve grabbed Bear and went to sit on the couch and wait to go see Daddy. "Wook, Bear, maked pictures for Daddy."

"You know he can't really talk, right?" Clint asked. "He's a stuffed aminal."

"No! Bear talks to me," Steve explained. "Wight, Bear?!"

"You're not a very smart baby, are you?"

"I am," Steve whined. "I not a baby. I smart."

" _Clint_ , leave him alone," Phil commanded.

"Sorry, baby."

"I'm not a baby!" Steve sniffled and hugged Bear tightly. "'N' Bear talks to me wots!"

"Steve, I'm going to help Clint get dressed. Are you okay alone for a minute?" Phil whispered.

Steve really doesn't like being alone. But he's not a baby, so of course he can be alone for a few minutes. "Uh-huh." Steve stuck his thumb in his mouth and started sucking while Phil helped Clint get dressed. Clint could dress himself, but with the new baby around, he's torn between liking being the big boy and wanting to show off how big he is, and wanting to be Daddy's baby.

"Clint, can you get your and Steve's shoes, please?" Phil asked as he moved to the kitchen. He grabbed the little thing of pacifiers he bought for Steve and opened it up, taking a Captain America themed (obviously) one out. "Steve? Can you take your thumb out of your mouth and suck on this instead?" Steve looked up at the pacifier and quickly shook his head no. Those are for babies! He doesn't want Clint to have more reasons to call him a baby. "Why not?"

"Not a baby," Steve mumbled around his thumb.

"I don't think using a pacifier is babyish. I think it shows that you're a big boy. The floor is dirty and you're constantly touching it; your thumb is very dirty, but if you use a pacifier, you won't get sick from all the icky germs on the floor, right?"

Steve slowly nodded and pulled his thumb out of his mouth, opening his mouth for the pacifier. Phil slid it in and ruffled Steve's hair.

"There you go. Such a good boy."

"What about me?! I got our shoes. I do all the hard work around here and no one ever gives me credit!" Clint cried, throwing his hands up.

"You're a good boy too, Clinty. Come get a hug." Clint smiled and ran forward, sitting on Daddy's lap. Phil squeezed Clint tightly and kissed his forehead. "Love you, bug."

"Love you more, Daddy."

"No way!"

"Yes way!"

"Impossible!" Steve whined loudly. He misses having little fights with his daddy about who loves who more. "We'll finish this later, Clint." Phil tapped Clint's nose and gently pushed him off his lap. "Can you put your shoes on by yourself, bug?"

"Yeah, Daddy." Clint grabbed his shoes and sat on the couch next to Steve while he put his shoes on.

"Okay, Steve. Ready to put your shoes on and go see Daddy?"

"Yah!" Phil put Steve's shoes on for him, then helped Clint tie his shoes.

"Got your pictures, buddy?"

"Uh-huh." Steve picked up his pictures and his bear and climbed into the car seat. Phil buckled him in and got in the driver's seat after making sure Clint buckled his seatbelt.

"Is Stevie gonna come see Aunt Natasha too?" Clint asked.

"Not right now. I'll bring you to the door, then I'm taking Steve to see his daddy. Steve will meet Natasha later."

"Okay. You'll like her, Steve! She's really fun! She always likes playing with toys and she gives me candy lots."

"Candy?" Steve asked around his pacifier.

"Uh-huh. But that's not the only reason she's awesome! She likes playing and she knows all the best movies and she lets me stay up late when I sleep over with her and-and lots of other stuff!"

"Oh _really_?" Phil asked like he didn't already know all that.

"Um...no?"

"Hmm."

"Aunt Peggy weally awesome too. Miss her. S'posed to cuddled her 'fore cwash." Steve sniffled and hugged Bear tightly.

"I'll try to find out about her, Steve," Phil promised. Steve nodded and used his bear as a pillow while he waited to be able to go see Daddy.

He didn't even realize he doze off until Phil was shaking him awake. Steve looked up, sleepily, with his hair all messed up and drool all over his cheek. There was even a wet patch on Bear. Phil grabbed a tissue and gently cleaned Steve's face. "Ready to go see Daddy?"

"Daddy!" Steve squealed, excitedly. He kicked his legs until Phil unbuckled him and helped him out of the car seat. "Daddy's pictures?"

"Here you go, buddy. Stay with me. Hold my hand." Steve whined, but held Bear under one arm with his pictures in one hand and Phil's hand in the other.

"Gonna see Daddy!" Steve sang as he pulled Phil along. He squealed and started bouncing when they finally got to Daddy's room. It's been so long since he's seen him and he misses him so much!

"Okay, Steve. Listen to me for a minute. Are you listening?"

"No." Steve took his hand from Phil and stuck his thumb in his mouth. His pacifier must have fell out in the car.

"At least you're honest," Phil sighed. "Steve, can you listen to me just for a minute? Then you can go see Daddy, okay?"

Steve nodded, still sucking his thumb. Phil gently tugged the thumb away and put a spare pacifier (this time tiger themed) in his mouth.

"Daddy _just_ got unfrozen a little while ago. He's still really cold, and he's asleep. He won't wake up for a long time, no matter what you do."

"Daddy sweepy."

"Yeah. Daddy's really sleepy. So don't try to wake him up, okay? You can talk to him and hug him if you're really gentle, though."

"Otay. See Daddy now?"

"Yeah, buddy. Do you want me to come in with you?"

Steve nodded and at last, Phil opened the door. Steve waddled in and his eyes widened when he saw Daddy. He looks really pale and slightly blue. There are about 500 (10) blankets over him. "Daddy?" Steve whispered.

"You can go over to him," Phil whispered. He gently pushed Steve forward. Steve dug his heels into the ground and turned to Phil.

"Daddy hurt if cuddles?"

"No, buddy, he won't get hurt. Just be gentle, okay?"

Steve nodded and turned back to Daddy. He waddled over to him and ignored the chair next to his bed, instead climbing onto the bed and sitting crisscross-applesauce.

"Hi, Dada," Steve whispered. "Miss you wots. I maked you pictures!" Steve did his best to forget that Daddy was asleep and imagined they were back in Brooklyn and Daddy was just being very quiet and attentive while Steve showed him his pictures. "Dis one is of us. And that's me an' Bear! Dat's my new fwiend, Clinty." Steve placed each of the drawings on the bedside table after describing them.

"I wike Phil and Clint, but I weally miss you, Daddy. Pwease wake up soon. I'll be bestest boy ever. No make Dada sad, no need spankin's." Steve sniffled and laid on his side, cuddled up to Daddy. "Wuv you, Daddy. Bear wuv you too." Steve kissed his daddy's cheek and made Bear kiss his cheek too.

Half an hour later, Steve was asleep. Phil let him sleep for a little under an hour before he got someone to carry him to the car so they could go home.

Once at home, Phil struggled a lot to bring Steve inside and put him in the crib, but he managed it without dropping him or waking him up. Once the baby was calmly napping, Phil decided to get some more work done. That didn't last long.

"Daddy?" Steve whimpered, waking up after his hour long nap. "Dada!"

Phil quickly stood up and ran to the nursery to see Steve sitting up in the crib, staring at the wall teary-eyed. "Steve? Did you have a bad dream?" He was ignored while Steve continued crying for his daddy. "I'm sorry we had to leave Daddy, buddy. I had work to do and we have things to do here." Phil was still ignored. "Steven. I know you miss Daddy. Maybe you can see him again later this week if you're good. Ignoring me isn't being a good boy."

"Dada! Come back! Daddy, pwease. Cold. Scared. Daddy!" Steve bursted into sobs and started reaching towards the wall.

Phil got scared as he realized what's going on. He hadn't had to deal with Clint's PTSD in about 6 years, and even then it was never like this.

Steve started shaking then. Phil pulled down the side of the crib and gently took Steve's hands and squeezed. It stopped him crying as hard.

"Steve, you're okay. You're here with Phil in my house. Daddy is in a room at S.H.I.E.L.D. healing. Slowly, but surely. You're okay. I'm right here, buddy." Phil continued saying reassuring things for about 4 minutes before he heard a tiny, "Phil?" And suddenly, Phil had an armful of Steve. "Scary."

"I know, buddy. I know."

"Want Dada."

"We can see him again later in the week. Calm down now. No more tears." Phil kissed the top of Steve's head and he finally started calming down. "There you go. Such a good boy. How about we go have a nice warm bath now?"

"Not stinky," Steve whispered.

"You don't need to be stinky to have a bath. Sometimes they just help calm you down. You can have some bubbles and a couple of Clint's toys if you want. Come on, let's go. You can get your pajamas on afterwards."

"Not bedtime."

"So what? We'll all have a movie night in our pajamas. I'll text Natasha to let her know."

"Tasha?"

"Clint's aunt. She's going to come over for dinner and our movie night. Is that okay?" Steve sucked on his thumb (why does he keep losing his pacifiers?) and thought back to what Clint told him about her earlier today. He said she likes playing with toys (not that he's in the mood for that right now) and she knows good movies, so she seems nice. And maybe she'll give him candy if he's really good!

"Otay. Tasha come. When?"

"In a little bit."

"Otay." Steve got out of his crib and followed Phil to the bathroom. He got to pick out three toys while the tub filled up. He chose a rubber duck, a small plastic boat, and the bath crayons. He blushed as he was stripped down and cleaned up. "In?"

"You can get in now, buddy. Want bubbles?" Steve nodded as he stepped into the tub. Phil poured bubbles into the bath and Steve sighed, content to just sit there in the warm bath, covered with bubbles. He eventually ended up grabbing a crayon and drawing a picture of the rubber duck he had sailing a boat.

"Ducky."

"I see. That's a very nice drawing, Steve. May I take a picture of it?"

Steve inclined his head slightly. "Ducky," he repeated. Phil smiled and snapped a quick picture of the drawing on his phone.

"Ready to start getting washed and ready for our night?"

"Uh-huh."

Phil gently washed the baby with a wash cloth before helping him out of the tub and wrapping him up in a tiger towel with a hood.

Steve's super soldier hearing picked up on the front door opening and his first thought was, _Clint_. Steve held the towel around him and ran out of the bathroom, giggling. He stopped when he saw Natasha. She's really pretty and wearing black fuzzy pajama pants with a boy's t-shirt. _She looks nice_ , Steve decided. He's just embarrassed that a girl saw him in just a towel. He quickly ran back to the bathroom and into Phil's arms.

Phil turned the baby sideways and planted 3 firm smacks to his behind before continuing to dry him off. "Don't run from me like that again. I don't care what we're doing or who's here, you stay with me, okay?"

"Sowwy," Steve sniffled. "Wanted Clinty."

"And what happened when you ran out there in just a towel?"

"Tasha see'd me awlmost all nakey," Steve blushed.

"So you're going to stay and let me dress you first before you run off from now on, right?"

"Uh-huh."

"Good boy." Phil quickly ran a brush through Steve's hair, before making sure the front of the towel was closed good. "Now let's go get you dressed." Steve was brought back to the nursery where he laid on the floor for a diaper.

"I pick pajamas?" Steve asked when he had a diaper on.

"Sure, buddy. Just don't take everything out." Steve's eyes widened and quickly shook his head no. There is no way he would ever do that! If Daddy ever found out, he would be in a lot of trouble!

"I careful." Steve looked through his pajamas before deciding on a dark gray footed sleeper covered in light gray, blue, and green dinosaurs. "Dis ones, pwease."

"Okay, buddy. Do you want to go sit with Clint and Natasha while I get changed?" Phil asked when Steve was dressed. Steve quietly nodded.

"Paci?"

"I'll find the clips for them so we can clip one onto your shirt and you stop losing them." Steve nodded and hugged Bear tightly as he walked out to Clint and Natasha. Clint is wearing light blue pants and a shirt covered in skulls which Steve didn't really like, but he stayed quiet about it.

"Hi, Steve," Natasha smiled at him. "I'm Clint's Aunt Natasha."

"Hi," Steve whispered, blushing.

"We saw your butt before," Clint giggled from where he was cuddled into Natasha's side.

"What butt?"

"The butt that you sit on, silly baby."

"Not a baby. Don't gotta butt."

"Everyone has a butt! Yours is right there!" Clint smacked Steve's padded butt, making him jump even though it didn't hurt.

"You no saw'ed it!"

"Yeah we did. Looks like a baby's butt."

Steve whined and covered his butt with his hands. Natasha sighed. "Stop upsetting the baby, Little Hawk," she commanded.

"Sorry, baby."

"Not a baby," Steve mumbled, sitting on the floor in front of Clint. Clint reached forward and grabbed Steve, pulling him onto his lap.

"Of course not. You're such a big boy," Natasha said, gently rubbing Steve's side. Steve sniffled and cuddled into Clint's chest.

"Why is Steve on your lap?" Phil wondered when he came back in flannel pajama pants and a gray sweatshirt.

"Because I put him here. We saw his butt before, Daddy!" Steve blushed into Clint's shoulder and whined quietly.

"Let's not talk about that little incident anymore, okay, bug?"

"Okay, Daddy." Clint hugged Steve tightly. "Can you get off of me now, Stevie?" Steve hugged Clint tighter and refused to let go. "How about we go pick what movies to watch?"

"Otay," Steve whispered. He crawled to the movies and picked out _The Lion King_. Clint chose _Finding Nemo_ , but he also picked a scary looking movie. He really hopes they don't watch a scary movie. He hates being scared and he gets scared easily.

"Steve, come here," Phil commanded when he saw him sucking his thumb. Steve crawled over and sat on his legs in front of Phil. Phil removed his thumb from his mouth before clipping a pacifier to his shirt and sticking it in his mouth. Steve rested his head against Phil's knee as he sucked his pacifier.

"Daddy," Clint whined.

"What, baby?" Phil asked.

"Cuddles?"

"Come here, bug." Clint cuddled into Phil's side and pet the baby's head.

"Love you, Daddy."

"I love you too, babe." Phil kissed Clint's cheek and squeezed him tightly.

"Stevie? Wanna come cuddle?" Steve nodded and put his arms up. Clint scooted over on the couch and pulled Steve onto the couch so he was in between him and his daddy. Clint leaned against Natasha's chest while Steve cuddled into him and Phil cuddled Steve.

"How put movie on?" Steve wondered suddenly.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two things that probably nobody cares about:   
> 1: I meant to post this chapter yesterday, but I got distracted by homework and cards against humanity and grocery shopping, so this is late but only by one day which I'm proud of (I have a story on a different website that I haven't updated in almost a year >>)   
> 2: The title for this story actually has nothing (or little) to do with the story, that's not the title I wanted to use. I never picked a title (I'm thinkin of a good one. Trying to anyway) and the title was gonna be "Titles are hard" but my phone said no and changed titles to life so I was like "same" and I kept it because it's true.  
> Back to the point: I'll brainstorm actual good title ideas over my 4 day weekend (during which I will try to write a few more chapters) and I'll probably change the title of this sometime this month

"Steve, wake up," Phil whispered, shaking Steve awake. Steve groaned and turned onto his stomach. Steve was put to bed before the scary movie, but he woke up halfway through the movie and climbed out of his crib to watch the movie behind the couch where he wouldn't be seen. Three days later he's still having nightmares from it. Phil let him sleep with him to help the nightmares. "Come on, buddy. Don't you want to say bye to Clinty?"

"Bye?" Steve whimpered. He turned back onto his side to look up at Phil.

"He's going on a mission. He's leaving in a few minutes."

"No. Want Clinty."

"I know, buddy. We're gonna go say bye. I have work to do at S.H.I.E.L.D. later, so you can go see Daddy while I do my work."

"Daddy and Clinty."

"Clint should only be away for a few days." Steve sniffled and rubbed his eyes. "Come on, buddy. Let's go." Steve crawled out of bed and hid behind Phil to walk out to Clint.

"Hey," Clint smiled at Steve. Steve can already tell Big Clint is very different from little Clint.

"Clinty," Steve whispered, putting his arms out for a hug. Clint hugged him tightly and patted his back.

"I gotta go in a minute, bud."

"No. No wanna be alone."

"You won't be alone, Steve. Phil is gonna stay with you. And you have Bear!" Steve just whined in response and pressed his face into Clint's chest. "Okay. Come with me a minute." Clint grabbed Steve's hand and took him to the nursery.

"Clinty stay?" Steve whimpered.

"I _really_ can't. I'm sorry. But, hey. I need someone to take care of Esther for me. Do you think you could do that?" Clint held his elephant out. Steve sniffed and nodded, taking the elephant and hugging it tightly. "Thank you, Steve. Make sure you give her lots of hugs and kisses. And make sure she eats her veggies!"

"Otay, Clinty. I take good care 'f her."

"I know you will. Be good for Phil. We can color or play with blocks or something when I get back, okay? I promise."

"Kay." Steve hugged Clint and blushed when he got a kiss on his forehead.

"I gotta go now, bud. I'll be back before you know it and you'll be _wishing_ I was gone." Clint ruffled the baby's hair and left after giving him a small smile. When Steve went out of the nursery, Clint was gone and it was just Phil. Steve whined and ran to the door.

"Hey, buddy," Phil whispered. "How about we go get a new diaper and go back to sleep for an hour or two?"

"Es come," Steve whispered back. He has to take really really good care of Esther or else Clint probably won't trust him with her again. He knows she'll be safe in his arms, so that's where she'll be living until Clint comes home.

"Did Clint give you Esther?"

"I take good care of Es."

Phil smiled. "I know you will. Come on. It's still pretty early and you need a diaper." Steve followed Phil to the nursery and laid on the floor. "I'm sorry you have to lay on the floor for your diapers. We're going to be moving in with the rest of your team in a few days and I think Stark is getting you a changing _table_. You won't have to get changed on the floor anymore."

"Stark?" Steve asked, hugging Esther tightly. "Howard?"

"It's Howard Stark's son. Tony. He's kind of an...well, never mind. You'll find out." Steve hummed and put his pacifier in his mouth.

"Tony wittle?" He wondered around his pacifier.

"No. You and Clint are the only littles on the team. I think. We don't know about Doctor Banner yet."

"When go?"

"A few days. The team is assembled now; Tony is getting everything ready for us to move in. You're gonna have your own room, Steve! Are you excited?"

"No." Steve's _never_ had his own room before. When he was a baby, he slept with his ma; when he was a kid, he slept with Bucky; when he joined the military, he never had any privacy period; and since he woke up, he's been sharing a room with Clint. On the rare occasions he slept alone, he'd always had trouble getting to sleep and when he finally slept, he had really bad nightmares. He's terrified of being alone.

"You'll get used to it." Phil patted Steve's thigh once he had a clean diaper on and helped him stand up. "Let's go back to bed for a bit."

"Baba?"

"Sure, buddy. Go lay down while I get you your baba."

"No wanna be awone!" Steve sniffed and reached for Phil with one arm while the other held tightly to Esther.

"Okay, come with me, then!" Steve waddled into the kitchen after Phil. Phil quickly warmed up a bottle of milk and brought Steve back to his room. They both climbed into bed and Steve cuddled into Phil's chest, opening his mouth. Phil put the bottle in Steve's mouth and they're were both asleep in a few minutes.

\---

"No," Steve pouted, turning his head away from the fork Phil was holding.

"Yes. You need to eat," Phil demanded, moving the fork back to Steve's mouth.

"No!"

"Why don't you want to eat? Hmm? You love pancakes."

"Not hungwy."

"It doesn't matter if you're not hungry, you have to eat at least a little bit."

"No!" Steve slid off his chair and hid behind the couch with Bear and Esther.

"Steven Grant Rogers, come eat your breakfast!" Steve ignored Phil to play with Bear and Esther. "If you make me come get you, you're going to be a _very_ sorry little boy."

"No! Can't make me eat!"

"Fine. But if you start to feel sick from not eating, you're not going to see Daddy and you can come sit with me while I work." Steve huffed. He won't get sick from not eating! He'll get to go see Daddy later!

Steve figured, if he's being difficult for Phil by not eating, maybe he should do something good and helpful. Maybe he should get himself dressed.

Steve crawled into the nursery and went to his clothes. He picked out a plain black onesie, yellow sweatpants, and a red sweater. He pulled his pajamas off himself and pouted at his wet diaper. Daddy used to get upset with him for trying to change himself because he couldn't put his diaper on correctly and he ended up leaking. He decided to just leave his diaper. He can't change himself and Phil is probably mad at him for not eating his breakfast. Steve got himself dressed with a lot of difficulty and took his pacifier from his pajamas, clipping it to his sweater and shoving it in his mouth before finally crawled out to Phil, hoping he won't be mad anymore.

"Phiw!" Steve called around his pacifier. Phil looked up from doing the dishes and laughed at Steve's choice of outfit. "Not mad no more? Steve good boy?"

"Yes, you are a good boy. I was never mad, though, buddy. Just upset that you didn't want to eat. I'm sorry if I made you think I was mad at you."

"It otay, Phiw! Huggy?"

"Yeah. Come here." Steve climbed onto Phil's lap and hugged him tightly. Phil gently rubbed his back for a few minutes, before patting his butt. "Let's go get you changed. Do you want to wear that to go see Daddy?"

"Uh-huh." Steve crawled to the nursery, laying on the floor. Phil tugged his pants down and pulled the onesie up, smirking slightly at how Steve couldn't button it. Phil changed his diaper, then dressed him back up.

"Okay. We'll go in a little bit. How about you watch a movie while I clean a bit?"

"Otay. I color?"

"Sure, bud. Go pick a movie while I get you a coloring book and some crayons. I'll get you some plain paper too if you want that."

"Tank you, Phiw." Phil smiled and ruffled Steve's hair.

\---

"Hi, Dada. I miss you lots. Pwease wake up soon." Steve whimpered and grabbed his daddy's hand and squeezed tightly. "Guess what?! Howard Stark gotta son. He name Tony. Gonna move in wif him soon. Clint hadda go on a mission, so gived me Es for take care of. I gonna take good care of her. I dwessed myself today, Dada. Did a good job. Phil taked picture you see when you wake up. Wake up soon, otay, Daddy?"

Steve laid down and cuddled his daddy for a while until Phil came in to check on him and bring him lunch.

"Do you need a diaper, buddy?" Phil asked. Steve nodded and laid on the floor for his diaper. "Okay. I brought you some Mac n' cheese and a bottle of juice. You have some water, milk, and snacks in the diaper bag along with your toys. The phone is in there if you need me. Just push the number one and the phone will call me."

"Otay, Phil," Steve nodded.

"Do you need anything else before I go?"

"Nuh-uh."

"Okay. I'll come check on you again in a little bit." Phil kissed the top of Steve's head before leaving.

"Dat was Phil. He nice. Not da same, though. He not you. I want you, Daddy." Steve sniffled as he climbed back into the bed, ignoring his lunch to cuddle into Daddy under all the blankets. "Wuv you, Daddy." Steve hugged his daddy and kissed his cheek. "Wuv you sho much! Daddy wake up wif me from nap? Pwease?" Steve yawned and fell asleep cuddled into Daddy's side.

\---

"Phil?" Steve groaned as he woke up one morning to hands on his arm.

"Daddy, the baby thinks I'm you," a familiar voice giggled. Steve opened his eyes and squealed, standing up on his knees in the crib to reach for Clint.

"Clinty's home!" Steve exclaimed as he began bouncing slightly. He's missed Clint so much! "Clinty, Clinty, Clinty!"

"Hi, baby," Clint greeted. "Did you take good care of Esther for me?"

"Uh-huh!" Steve grabbed Esther out of his crib and presented her to Clint who took her and hugged her tightly.

"Good. Thank you."

"Out now?" Phil took the side of the crib down and Steve got out. "Huggy?"

"Of course!" Steve hugged Clint tightly.

"Smell like apples," Steve observed as he pressed his face into Clint's neck.

"I just took a bath 'cause I was icky."

"Missed you."

"I missed you too, Stevie. Guess what?"

"Hmm?"

"We're gonna go to Tony Stark's tower later. And we're gonna have our own _floors_! With a kitchen and bedrooms and a living room and a bathroom! That's only when we're big, though. When we're little, we're gonna have our rooms on a floor just for when we're little!"

"Don't wanna be alone," Steve sniffled.

"You're not alone, Stevie."

"No wike sleepin' alone." While Clint was gone, Phil stayed in the nursery until Steve fell asleep, so he didn't even realize he was alone after he finally fell asleep.

"Okay. Daddy will figger it out. Wanna go have breakfast, baby?"

"No."

Clint frowned. "Why not?" Steve repeated his previous answer. "But Daddy maked pancakes and eggs and bacon! It's yummy."

"Steve, would Daddy want you to eat?" Phil asked.

Steve sniffled and started picking at Clint's SpongeBob t-shirt. "Yeah...."

"Do you want to make Daddy sad?"

"No!" Steve looked up at Phil, appalled by the thought of making his daddy sad.

"Will you eat a little bit, then?" Steve nodded. "Thank you. Do you need a diaper first?" Another nod. Steve laid on the floor and Phil changed his diaper, but the former rolled away before he could get his pants on. "What are you doing, silly?"

"Pancake." Steve crawled to the kitchen and sat at the table.

"Today is a no pants day for the kids," Phil sighed when he saw Clint take his pants off too.

Steve ended up eating one pancake, a bit of an egg, and one and a half pieces of bacon. _It's better than nothing_ , Phil decided.

"Wanna play?" Clint asked when he saw Steve sitting on the couch, staring into blank space. Clint gently shook Steve's arm when he was ignored.

"Huh?" Steve wondered.

"Wanna play with me?" Steve hummed and nodded, moving onto the floor. "What do you want to play?"

"Bwocks?"

"Okay." Clint ruffled the baby's hair as he stood up to go get the blocks.

"Clint no wear diapee," Steve observed when Clint returned with the blocks.

"I know; that's because I'm a big boy!" Clint smiled down at his underpants covered in cars.

"I wanna be a big boy too!"

"You're too little to wear underpants. You'll have an accident."

"I won't! Be big boy."

"Ask Daddy." Steve nodded and stuck his pacifier in his mouth as he crawled to Phil.

"Phiw? I wear undies?"

"I don't know...."

"Pwease? I big boy. Gonna go potty."

"Okay. Sure. I'll order you some cute kiddie ones to go to the tower, but for now, you can just wear some plain white ones. Is that okay?"

"Uh-huh!"

"Okay, buddy. Let's go potty before we put them on." Steve nodded and went to the bathroom with Phil.

"Clinty, look!" Steve exclaimed as he ran back to his friend. "Imma big boy!"

"Cool," Clint nodded. Steve smiled as he sat on the floor in his undies.

"Go show Daddy?" Steve asked Phil.

"Tomorrow."

"Otay. Make house for Bear and Es?"

"Okay. That sounds like a good idea," Clint smiled. The kids got to work building while Phil packed up a couple things they'll need when they leave. He made sure to check up on Steve needing the bathroom every once in a while.

\---

"Hewwo," Steve whispered when Tony arrived to bring everyone to their floors. The entire team is there already. And Steve is really shy. He's glad Phil convinced him to wear a pull-up for the ride, because he had a bit of an accident when he met everyone.

"Hey, Cap," Tony smiled. Steve blushed and his his face in Phil's shoulder. "Do you wanna let go of Agent Coulson and come with me to see your floor?"

"Otay," Steve whispered. He let go of Phil and grabbed Tony's hand tightly. They got up to Steve's floor and Tony led Steve out of the elevator. "Daddy getta fwoor?"

"Daddy will get his floor set up when he wakes up. He won't come live with us right away, though." Steve's whined.

"Why not?"

"S.H.I.E.L.D. is probably gonna make him see a therapist and get settled into 2011 first."

"Wif Stevie?"

"I don't think so, kiddo. We'll see. Daddy has to wake up first." Steve sniffled, but nodded and put his pacifier in his mouth. "So anyway! This is your floor. Kitchen, living room, that's the bathroom, and those other rooms are bedrooms. Master bedroom and guest rooms. And that room over there is an art room."

"Tank you, Tony. I wike it a wot!" Steve hugged Tony tightly.

"You're welcome, Cap." Tony patted Steve's back. "Everyone is investigating their floors. Phil and Clint are together, so I guess you're stuck with me for a bit."

Steve whimpered when he moved and felt the discomfort from the wet pull-up. "Want Phil...."

"He'll be done soon. Let's go see the nursery and play for a bit." Steve sniffled and grabbed Tony's hand, going back to the elevator to go down to the nursery.

"Um...I's gotta go potty."

"Do you need help?"

"Imma big boy!"

"I know you are, but that doesn't mean you can't get help with things. Trust me, I need a lot of help with things."

"Um...." Steve didn't know if he wanted Tony to help. He probably _does_ need help, but he doesn't want to get embarrassed in front of a new friend.

"I won't judge you or anything if that's what you're thinking...."

"Otay. Hewp pwease?"

"Okay. Come on, kiddo." Tony led Steve into the bathroom where there was plenty of diapers and pull-ups stocked up. Steve pushed his pants down and blushed when Tony saw the wet pull-up. Tony didn't react to it other than taking it off and cleaning him up. "What do you think you should wear now?"

"Wanna wear undies. Imma big boy."

"Okay, Steve." Tony grabbed a clean pair of underwear and helped Steve put them on before pulling his pants back on. "Why don't you go find some toys you want to play with while I wash my hands?"

"Otay." Steve toddled over to the toys and picked out the blocks. He dumped them all on the floor, but stopped when a certain stuffed animal with a tag that said " _For Steve, from Tony_ " caught his eye. He crawled over to it and started sniffling while his eyes watered when he realized that it was a bunny to look like his daddy.

"Blocks! Sounds like fun!" Tony clapped, coming into the playroom. "You know I'm an inventor; I can build you just about anything you–Steve? You okay?"

Steve whimpered and turned to Tony, hugging the bunny tightly. "Want Daddy."

Tony gave Steve a sad smile. "I know you do, kiddo. I'm sorry, that's one of the only things I can't give you. I'm sure he'll wake up soon and you'll have your daddy sometime in very early 2012."

"Want Dada _now!_ " Steve's lower lip started trembling.

"I know, buddy. I'm sorry. Come here. Let's cuddle for a bit. JARVIS, be a dear and put a kid's movie on."

"JARVIS?" Steve sniffled, curiously.

" _Hello, Steven. I am JARVIS, Master Stark's AI system he created years back._ " A smooth British voice answered from the ceiling.

"AI?"

"It's basically a computer," Tony explained, shrugging. "Except not really. I'll explain later. For now, you need to calm down and I think a bottle and a cuddle is the perfect way to do that. What do you think? Hmm?"

"Chocolate milk?" Steve sniffled.

"Of course. Do you want to come with me to get it or sit in the couch and wait?"

"No alone." Steve ignored that he can see the kitchen perfectly fine from the couch and followed Tony to the kitchen, sitting on the floor behind Tony.

"Alright, kiddo. Ready to go have a bottle and cuddle?"

"Yah." Steve crawled back to the couch and climbed onto Tony's lap. Steve closed his eyes while he had his bottle and tried to imagine he was sitting on his daddy's lap back in Brooklyn before the war and their lives got all crazy.

"Uh oh." That voice is definitely _not_ Daddy's. Way to ruin it, Tony.

Steve let go of the bottle and whimpered. "Uh oh?" He sniffled. He looked down at his lap and almost bursted into sobs. "Sowwy! Sowwy, Tony, sowwy!"

"Shh, it's okay, kiddo. It was just an accident. You didn't mean it. It's okay," Tony quickly reassured. "Let's just go get you cleaned up." Steve got off of Tony's lap, whimpering when he saw the wet spot on Tony's leg. Tony gently took Steve's hand and led him to the bathroom. He removed Steve's pants and underwear and threw them down the laundry shoot with his own pants, leaving Steve naked from the waist down and Tony in a t-shirt and boxers.

"I sowwy," Steve repeated.

"It's really okay, Steve. I'm not mad at you. Daddy wouldn't be mad. Phil won't be mad. JARVIS isn't mad, are you, J?"

" _I am not capable of being mad._ "

"See, he's not mad. Nobody's mad at you for having an accident."

" _Agents Coulson and Barton are on their way to this floor right now._ "

Steve whimpered as Tony started cleaning the urine off them both with baby wipes. "Nooo. Clinty tease me."

"He's a kid. That's what they do; they tease other kids. Especially when they're younger than them."

"Clinty say before I too little for wear undies 'cause gonna has accidents." Steve choked on a silent sob.

"Shh, it's okay. It's okay, Steve. What does Clint know? I'm sure he's had lots of accidents too." Tony hugged Steve tightly and brought them back out to the play room as the elevator opened and Phil and Clint stepped off. Steve could just _tell_ from the air that Clint was big. _At least the teasing might be held off for a bit_ , he decided.

"What happened here?" Phil demanded, wondering why Steve is completely naked from the waist down and Tony doesn't have pants on.

"Someone had a little accident," Tony explained quietly.

" _Tony_ ," Clint teased. "Maybe you should borrow a couple of Steve's diapers." He walked forward as he spoke and took Steve, letting him latch onto him like a (very large) baby koala.

"Shut it, tweety. I'm gonna go shower and put pants on. I'll come back after to check on the kid." Tony rubbed Steve's back for a few seconds before leaving.

"I sowwy," Steve cried repeatedly into Clint's shoulder.

"It's okay, buddy," Phil whispered, walking over to give Steve a hug. "How about we go put you in some new undies and some pants?"

" _No_."

"Why not?"

"Scared."

"Of what? Having another accident?"

Steve nodded slightly. "Clint right. Too little; have too much accidents."

"Today is your first time trying to wear anything other than diapers when you're little. It's the first time you're wearing something other than a diaper in a long time, actually. How about you just try a pull-up for a little bit?"

" _No_." Steve held onto Clint's shirt tightly in one hand, wrinkling it.

"Okay. Let's get you a diaper, then. Did you see your room yet?" Steve shook his head no. "Let's go see it, then! Come on, bud." Phil and Clint both held Steve's hands and led him to his room on this floor.

There was a big wooden crib in the corner of it and two white toy chests decorated with gray cartoon elephants and blue polka dots against one wall. There was another toy chest with a lion painted on it against the wall next to the crib. A huge wooden rocking chair sat against the wall next to the closet (which looked full of clothes!) and there was a wooden changing table (filled with diapers) with a soft Disney character cushion on it right next to the door. A dresser (also full of clothes) sat next to the changing table. The walls were light blue and had Disney characters painted on two of the walls while farm animals decorated the other walls.

"Wow," Clint exclaimed quietly. "Your room is awesome, Stevie!" Steve nodded, sniffling and placed his pacifier in his mouth, sucking on it to calm down. Steve climbed onto the changing table and stared at the wall, mesmerized by the animals. He was too busy paying attention to the animals that he didn't even hear Phil asking him to lift up his butt and Clint had to hold his legs up so he could get a diaper on.

"Moo." Steve gently stoked the cow painted on the wall right next to his face.

"I wanna go see my room too!" Clint exclaimed a little too loudly causing Steve to flinch and also telling Phil and Steve that he's starting to slip back into his little space.

"We can go see your room, but you have to be quiet. Steve doesn't like when people shout," Phil explained.

"Okay. Sorry, Stevie." Clint kissed Steve's nose and Phil helped the baby off the changing table and took the boys to check out Clint's room.

There was a race car bed in one corner and four pirate themed toy chests, all full of toys. A rocking chair was next to the closet like in Steve's room and there was a dresser against the wall, but no changing table because Clint doesn't need diapers. The walls were purple with dinosaurs on them.

"Awesome!" Clint exclaimed, jumping and pumping his fist in the air before running to the toy chests to investigate them.

"We's gots toys in da pway room too," Steve whispered. "Was gonna pway bwocks wif Tony."

"Really?!" Clint gasped.

"That's a lot of toys, Tony," Phil sighed. Kids don't need toys to have fun when they have their imagination.

"Toys," Steve stated.

"Yeah! Let's play with toys, Stevie!"

"Weally?"

"Of course! Why wouldn't we?!"

"I too much a baby...."

"Well, you are a baby, but that's okay! You're cute and fun and I like playing with you!"

"Bwocks?"

"You're fun most of the time, anyway. But okay, we can play with blocks." Steve smiled and reached for Clint's hand. The latter took the former's hand and brought him to the play room where they played with the blocks Steve and Tony were supposed to play with. Steve hugged Bear and the bunny that he creatively named _Bunny_.

"That's a nice bunny, Steve," Phil commented.

"Daddy."

"It's wearing Daddy's uniform?" Steve nodded, hugging Bunny tightly while curled into a ball against Bear's chest. Phil didn't know that Steve could curl into a ball that small. Granted, it is a very large bear, but still. "Where did you get it, buddy?"

"Tony."

"That's nice of him. Did you say 'thank you?'"

"Gonna."

"Why didn't you thank him when he was already in here?" Clint wondered.

"Busy."

"You're just a baby; what could you possibly be busy with?"

"Cryin'."

"Why were you crying?" Phil worried, sitting on the floor next to Steve ready to bring him into his arms if he started crying again.

"Miss Daddy.... Bunny Daddy."

"I know you miss Daddy, buddy. I promise S.H.I.E.L.D. is trying to wake him up and get him better so he can come see you and give you hugs and kisses."

"I know," Steve whispered. He does know that S.H.I.E.L.D. is trying to wake up Daddy and make him ready to take care of him again. They're just not trying hard enough.

"Come here, baby," Clint demanded, putting his arms out for Steve to crawl into. Steve sat in his lap and stuck his pacifier in his mouth, sucking fiercely on it. "What's your favorite color out of these blocks, Stevie?"

"Uh...I wike dat bwue."

"Okay! What about your second and third favorites?"

"If that kid says 'red and white' I'm going to jump out the window," Tony stated, stepping out of the elevator.

"No!" Steve cried, trying to get out of Clint's arms and go to Tony. Clint just stared at Tony with wide eyes.

"Jeez, I was joking. Calm down, kid!" Tony sat next to Clint and grunted when he had a chest full of Steve's head.

"Don't joke about that around little kids," Phil demanded.

"Sorry, sorry."

"Th-thank you for Bunny, Tony," Steve sniffled. Tony just shrugged and ruffled the baby's hair.

"Stevie? What colors do you want?" Clint asked, rubbing the baby's back.

"These ones?" Steve held up a light blue block, a green block, and an orange block.

"Okay. You get all those colors. Tony? Daddy, are you two gonna play too?"

"I think I'll watch," Phil decided. He kissed Clint's forehead and gently rubbed Steve's cheek, shooting a quick glare at Tony before sitting on the couch.

"I'll play!" Tony smiled.

"Okay. What two colors you want? Not purple, though. Purple is mine."

"I'll take red and yellow. Iron man colors." Tony winked and Clint ignored it while Steve just chewed on his soft orange block.

"Don't chew the blocks, baby," Clint said, pulling the block from Steve's mouth and making him whine. "It's icky." Clint shoved Steve's pacifier back in his mouth before taking all the purple, pink, and dark blue blocks.

"Bwock," Steve stated, holding up his slightly chewed on block.

"I see. It looks so beautiful with those teeth marks in them," Tony commented. That made Steve want to make all the blocks beautiful, so he grabbed another block and went to bring it to his mouth before Tony stopped him. "No, no. No more. We like our ugly blocks, thank you very much. We'll just have the one unique one with bite marks, thanks."

"But bootiful...."

"They look just fine without baby slobber and bite marks. No more."

"Otay," Steve pouted.

"What do you two want to build?"

"We should build a monster!" Clint exclaimed. Steve whimpered for two reasons: 1, Clint was too loud again and 2, Steve doesn't like monsters.

"Steve? Do you wanna build a monster with us? You can build something else," Tony said.

"Wanna pway wif yous. No monster...." Steve sniffled, upset because Tony and Clint won't want to play with him since he doesn't want a monster.

"Okay, Stevie," Clint said, only slightly disappointed. "What about a robot? Or we can just make a puppy."

"Wobot?"

"Okay, Stevie! Tony, will you help you build a robot?"

"Of course I will," Tony answered, smiling.

"Pwetty wobot?"

"Oh, he will be a _beautiful_ robot, Steve."

"Yay!" Steve crawled out of Clint's lap and gave his bear and bunny a tight hug before sitting down to build the beautiful robot.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings I suppose: this chapter talks about spanking and beating, but nothing actually happens. Also Steve ends up in the hospital and I felt really bad writing it but he's fine. And I'm sorry for having Christmassy chapters (this and the next) in mid November but Bucky...   
> and I meant to post this 4 hours ago but I ended up going shopping and out to dinner for my birthday and my phone was dead 3

"Why why why why _why_?"

Phil groaned, adjusting the sobbing two-year old on his lap. The kid has lost a bit of weight since he woke up, but he's still pretty heavy.

Everyone moved into the tower about a week ago and they just got word that Bucky woke up. Which means that Steve can't go see him every other day now. Steve is having a bit of trouble accepting that. Well, ' _a bit_ ' might be an understatement.

"Because, buddy, Daddy is going to be very overwhelmed having woken up almost 70 years in the future. He needs time to get used to the world now," Phil tried explaining.

"Daddy get used to world wif Steve!"

"Steve–"

"Let me try talking to him," Bruce interrupted.

Phil looked up at Bruce, slightly shocked. He's been kind of introverted since they met. "Okay. Steve, can you go with Bruce?" Steve nodded and slipped off of Phil's lap, following Bruce to his room.

"Bwucie, want Daddy!" Steve sobbed. Bruce sat in the rocking chair and had Steve sit next to him, cuddled into his side. It felt weird for Bruce because he's always been slightly scared of physical contact, but this is nice, even if it's a crying toddler he's cuddling.

"I know, Steve. I know you want him. Can you calm down and listen to me for a minute, please? Just give me 2 minutes to talk," Bruce requested.

Steve sniffled and nodded. "Otay, Bwucie."

"Okay, thank you. When you woke up you were probably really scared, right? But you have people to help you get used to everything."

"Da–"

"I'm not finished. Please let me finish." Steve huffed, but quieted down. "Sure, Daddy could probably come live here with us right now and get used to the world, but it would be harder. You even just stayed with Phil and Clint for a week to settle in. Bucky would be coming straight to a big building with like 5 brand new people, one of whom hides in a lab 70% of his day, another of whom is extremely sarcastic and also hides in a lab most of the day–"

Steve sniffled and Bruce shoved his pacifier in his mouth. "It would be all new people who are barely around and are really sarcastic and it just wouldn't be good. He needs to get used to the world again and prepare himself for taking care of you again. It might take a while, but he'll come here eventually."

"Why c'n't I visit?" Steve sniffled around his pacifier.

"I don't actually know the answer to that. I _think_ S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't want to overwhelm him or something like that? I don't know, sorry. We'll see what we can do about letting you visit him."

"Otay...." Steve cuddled closer to Bruce and the latter started rubbing the former's back to calm him down.

"There you go.... Good boy." Steve hummed quietly. "Wanna go back out to see everyone?"

Steve shook his head no. "Sweepy."

All the crying he's been doing the last two hours must have worn him out. It's almost his nap time anyway, though, so Bruce didn't see a problem with letting him go to bed now. "Okay. Do you need a diaper first?"

"Nope. Cuddle?" Steve refuses to sleep in his room unless he's getting cuddles, which means Phil or Clint or even Tony has to climb into his crib with him until he falls asleep, but then it's hard to detangle themselves from the baby, so they end up sleeping in the crib until Steve wakes up. That's okay, though; Tony made sure Steve's mattress is really comfortable: soft, but not too soft, and firm.

"Um...I guess so. Do you want a bottle?"

"No. Cuddle."

"Alright, Steve." Bruce took the side of the crib down to allow Steve to climb in first. Bruce climbed in next and gasped when Steve pulled him right into his chest.

"Night night, Bwucie."

"Night, Stevie...." Bruce wasn't expecting to fall asleep with Steve, but less than 10 minutes later, Tony opened the door to check on them to see them both snoring away in Steve's crib.

Tony carefully placed a blanket over them, smiling when he saw Bruce bring his hand up to his mouth. The sight made him curious about something and he made a mental note to pay close attention to Bruce.

\---

"JARVIS?" Steve asked while watching TV a few days later. He woke up that day and decided to it was time to be big and hide on his floor. "Where's my shield?" He had found his Captain America uniform and saw some serious sh--stuff going on on TV.

 _"I am not supposed to tell you where it is until you're cleared by medical physically and psychologically,"_ JARVIS answered.

"I'm perfectly fine both physically and psychologically."

_"I'm sorry, Captain, but I'm still not supposed to tell you until Agent Coulson tells me it's alright."_

"Can you tell me where it's not?"

_"...."_

"Is it not on this floor?"

_"No."_

"Is it not in this room?" Steve looked around the living room. He didn't see any places his shield could be hiding in here.

_"Yes."_

"So it's in a different room?"

_"I am not supposed to tell you where your shield is, Captain, I apologize."_

"Okay. Thanks, JARVIS. If anyone wants me, tell them I'm busy, but don't tell them what I'm doing or where I am." JARVIS started to say something, but Steve blocked it out in order to look for his shield. 15 minutes later, he found it hidden in a box on the top shelf of his closet. Steve smirked as he began getting changed. He asked Phil yesterday if he could go out, but was told no because he wasn't ready. He is so ready! And he's going to prove it.

\---

"JARVIS, where's Steve?" Phil asked. This is only the third time since Steve's been awake that he's big. Phil wants to keep a close eye on him no matter how big or little he is to make sure he's okay mentally.

_"I don't know. Captain Rogers left the tower an hour and 43 minutes ago."_

"What?! Why did you let him leave?"

_"You did not tell me he wasn't allowed to leave."_

"Shit.... Ask Tony to go look for him in the Iron Man suit, please."

_"Of course, sir."_

"Ask Nat and Bruce if they can look too, please."

_"Of course, sir."_

Phil sighed and went to Clint's floor where Clint was playing video games and eating popcorn. "Clint, Steve is gone."

Clint quickly paused and looked up, worriedly. "What do you mean?"

"He left. No one knows where he is. I need you to come help look for him." Just then, Phil's phone rang. _Why is S.H.I.E.L.D.'s medical department calling him?_ He answered the phone, curious.

"Agent Coulson?" The doctor asked.

"Yes. Why are you calling me?"

"You're Steve Rogers's guardian, right?" Phil's eyes widened and he grabbed Clint's arm, pulling him up and to the elevator.

"Yes I am. What happened? Is he alright?"

"He was thrown from a building. He's–well, he'll heal. Can you come here right now?"

"Yes, I'm on my way."

"I'll explain when you get here then."

\---

"Why the hell did you think it was a good idea to go out to fight freaking super villains?!" Clint demanded when he was finally allowed in Steve's room at S.H.I.E.L.D.'s medical center. "You went and got yourself thrown off a fucking building when you were already _badly_ roughed up!" Clint didn't react to the hard swats Phil gave him for cursing. "I should beat your ass."

"You will do no such thing," Phil stated.

"Won't I?"

"No, you _won't_. Until Bucky comes back, I'm the only one that is to discipline him. And then Bucky is the only one to do that."

Clint huffed and turned back to Steve. He has 5 broken bones in his arms and legs, 2 broken ribs, a concussion, and his entire body is littered with cuts and scratches and bruises.

"You look like shit," Tony commented, earning himself a smack on the back of the head. Phil doesn't care who is cursing and how big or little they are: don't curse around him or you'll get smacked.

"Why did you do that?" Clint demanded again.

"Wanted ta go out 'n' help," Steve mumbled.

"You'll be able to do that in a few weeks after you see doctors and get cleared to go out in the field again! You didn't need to go out today like a stupid reckless idiot! You didn't have _any_ backup besides police and what help are they?!"

"Sorry.... I know I was stupid. It won't happen again." He squirmed uncomfortably on the bed. He has a broken leg and he's not supposed to leave the bed anyway, so he was put in a diaper earlier and it's been used twice since then.

"I still want to beat your ass."

"I probably deserve it." Steve blushed as Phil started changing him in front of Natasha, but luckily she turned around.

"No," Phil said. "Clinton, you're not going to beat him. Steve, you don't deserve to be _beaten_. A spanking is different. Beating is just hitting you to hurt you; spanking is discipline and is teaching you something."

"So can I spank him?" Clint asked.

"What part of _'I'm the only one to discipline him'_ did you not understand?"

Clint shrugged and sighed, sitting on Steve's bed and lightly hugging him. "We were all so worried about your stupid little butt, Steve."

"I'm sorry. It'll never happen again." Steve pressed his face into Clint's chest, nearly falling asleep when Clint rubbed his back. He only woke up because Natasha and Bruce decided it would be a good time to give him his bear and bunny. He blushed. "I'm not little right now."

"So? Who cares? Clint refuses to sleep without his blanket every night no matter his mental age," Phil said. "He likes Esther when he's big too."

"Esther and my blanket are awesome!" Clint defended.

Steve blushed as he took his stuffed animals and hugged them tightly. "I wanna go home...."

"I don't think you're allowed to leave until you're healed a bit more," Bruce frowned.

"Don't worry, Steve," Natasha said when Steve whined. "You'll probably be able to leave in two or three days."

"Maybe a bit longer," the doctor sighed, leaning against the door frame. "I don't think he's healing as quickly as he could be. He's lost a bit of weight, which isn't good. He needs to maintain his regular body weight if he's going to be going back out in the battlefield again, because he won't be as strong and he won't heal as quickly as he should. How did he lose the weight?"

"He's been refusing to eat," Phil sighed. "So when do you think he'll be able to leave then?"

"A week? Maybe."

"I wanna go now," Steve whimpered. "I spent enough time in hospitals when I was a kid. I just wanna go home now and go to bed. I'll be careful!"

The doctor shook his head no. "Sorry, Captain." Steve sniffled and hid his face in Bear's fur. Clint gently squeezed Steve's thigh.

"It's okay. Someone will be with you everyday until you can come home," he promised.

"Want Daddy...." Clint carefully hugged Steve until they both fell asleep and everyone else started whispering about how to prevent this from happening again.

\---

"There are going to be some new rules here, Captain," Tony said, pushing the wheelchair off the elevator to the common floor. Steve is finally back in the tower after a week of being stuck in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s medical and he's being hit with new rules. He is not happy.

"Why?" He asked.

"To prevent something like this from happening again," Bruce explained, quietly. "You know you weren't cleared to be back out there. That was very dangerous and you could have gotten hurt a lot worse."

"Bruce," Phil whispered, telling him to stop. "He knows. He knows that was stupid and he's not going to do it again. We don't need to tell him 20 times a day." Phil crouched in front of the wheelchair and grabbed Steve's hand. "You'll be better soon, buddy. You already got one cast off and the others are coming off in a few more days. Do you understand why we're getting new rules?"

Steve nodded and stated, "to keep me safe," to prove that he understands why.

"Good. So, JARVIS has a few new rules. You're not allowed to be out and about unsupervised, little _or_ big. At least for a while. He's not going to tell you–or _not tell you_ –anything that has anything to do with being in the battlefield and fighting. Your Captain America stuff isn't even going to be on your floor anymore. We're not telling you where it is. You can get it when you're cleared to go out on missions and you will only have it when on a mission."

"Not fair," Steve mumbled, hugging Bear and Bunny tightly.

"Why isn't it fair?"

"I'm not a baby. All the time. I can fight bad people. I was doing it before any of you were even born. I almost died doing it."

"Right. And we don't that to happen again. I don't think Bucky would be happy with us if we let you get killed before he could come see you again."

Steve huffed and crossed his arms as much as he could with one arm in a cast.

"Please just obey the rules and don't be stupid again?" Clint begged. "We all like you and we would be so upset and heartbroken if something happened to you."

"Okay," Steve finally whispered.

"Thank you." Clint hugged Steve, being careful of his ribs which were still sore.

\---

"Daddy? Are we gonna see Santa?" Clint asked a few days later, looking up at the calendar on the wall.

"Oh yeah! I almost forgot about that this year," Phil admitted. "Of course we'll go see Santa, baby."

"Is Steve gonna come?" Clint looked over at the baby who was clearly on his way to dreamland. He's all better now about 2 weeks after the incident. And now there's only 5 days until Christmas! And they still have to see Santa! Come on, Daddy, get with the program.

"I think that would be nice. Don't you?"

"Yeah. He's seemed real sad for a while. Maybe seeing Santa will make him happy!"

"You've noticed how sad he's been too, huh?" Phil isn't surprised, actually. Clint's good at picking up on these things no matter what his mental age is. And it's not like Steve was trying to hide how depressed he is. It was pretty obvious, actually.

"Yeah. I don't like that he's sad."

"Does talking to your therapist help you when you're sad?" Phil has been taking Clint to see a therapist for years when he's big and when he's little, but they usually don't talk about that, because Phil likes to let Clint come to him if he wants to talk about something.

"Yeah. Helps a lot."

"Maybe Steve should have a little visit with Isabelle one day, then."

"Maybe. After Santa, though."

"Okay, bug. We'll go see Santa after Steve has a nap."

"Okay, Daddy!" Clint smiled as his daddy kissed the top of his head.

"How about we go play in your room while Steve naps so we don't wake him up?" Clint nodded, happy to get to play with his daddy. "Okay. Go get some toys ready while I give Steve his pacifier and a blanket."

"Okay, Daddy." Clint jumped up and ran to his room to take out his toys while Phil took the bottle from Steve's mouth and replaced it with a pacifier. He covered him with a blanket before going to Clint's room where there were 3 completely empty toy chests creating a wall with an ocean of toys in front of it. Lord have mercy....

\---

"I don't wanna wear this," Steve cried, picking at the Christmas sweater and pants he's forced to wear.

"But we're gonna see Santa, Stevie!" Clint exclaimed, wearing a very similar outfit.

"Pajamas warmer!"

"I'll put the heat on in the car and you can take a blanket," Phil promised. Nothing Phil or Clint said or did got the baby to stop crying. Eventually, Phil just gave Clint his phone (Clint never gets to have his phone when he's little; he always plays games on Daddy's phone, but that's it and it's rare) and headphones and let him watch a movie on Netflix. Phil had to suffer with the crying. He might need to hear something, so he can't have his headphones in.

"I wanna go home!" Steve cried into Phil's shoulder on line to see Santa.

"Why?" Phil asked, gently scratching Steve's back under the sweater. "You don't wanna see Santa and tell him what you want for Christmas?"

"I don't know!"

"You don't know if you want to see him?"

"Dunno what I want for Chwistmas!" Phil was astounded. All that crying because he doesn't know what he wants for Christmas?

"What's something you always wanted when you were a kid, but never got?"

"Puppy ears hat?" Steve sniffled.

"There you go. Voila. Or pick a toy you've seen on TV in commercials. Just anything you want."

"Otay," Steve sniffed, finally stopping crying.

"Shh, there you go, buddy. Calm down. You can go in front of us," Phil told the people behind him when he saw they were almost up and Steve wasn't quite calm yet. "Clinty, can you get me the face wipes from the diaper bag, please?"

"Uh-huh. Here, Daddy," Clint said, handing over what he was asked to retrieve.

"Thank you, bug. Steve? Can you look at me and let me clean you up a bit?" Steve sniffled again and looked at Phil. Phil took a wipe and cleaned Steve's face, making him squirm.

"Phiw?" Steve asked when he was clean. "Can us go shoppin' for evwyone affer Santa?"

"Sure, buddy!"

Steve smiled and grabbed his pacifier from where it was clipped onto his shirt and put it in his mouth. "Cwinty, hugs?"

"I'll give you one hug before Santa and we can cuddle when we go home," Clint explained. He gave Steve a tight hug, then squealed when he noticed they're next to see Santa!

"Okay, you two will go see Santa alone, then you can get a picture together. Clint, do you want to go first?" Phil asked. Clint nodded, excitedly and ran over to Santa, sitting on his lap. Phil listened to Clint tell Santa he wants a remote control car and he smiled because he got him one. "Ready to go see Santa, Steve?"

Steve hummed around his pacifier and nodded, walking over to sit on Santa's lap when Clint got to Phil.

"Hello, little boy," Santa greeted, smiling. "What's your name?"

"Steve!" The pacifier fell out of Steve's mouth, but he didn't mind because he's gonna tell Santa what he wants for Christmas.

"How old are you, Steve?"

"Dis many." Steve held up two fingers.

"Ah. And is that your big brother over there?"

"No. My cousin!"

" _Oh!_ I see. Well, your cousin said you've both been good boys, so do you want to tell me what you want for Christmas?"

"Yah. I want Daddy to come home." Steve looked up at Santa with wide, innocent eyes.

"I'll try. I can't promise I can get him home, but I'll try my very best. What about a toy or something you would like if I can't get your daddy home?"

"I see'd a tent wif puppies on it on TV! I want dat!"

"Okay, Steve. Ready to take pictures now?"

"Uh-huh."

"Look at the camera and say cheese!" Steve did as he was told and they took a couple pictures before Clint went over to take pictures too.

"Good job, boys," Phil smiled, paying for the pictures. "Ready to go shopping?"

"Yeah!" Clint exclaimed, pulling Steve over by his hand.

"Wet," Steve whimpered.

"Let's go have a little bathroom break before we go shopping, then," Phil whispered, grabbing Clint's hand and leading the boys to the bathroom.

"I don't have to go potty," Clint frowned once they got to the bathroom.

"Try. Please?" Phil requested.

"I'll try, but I know I won't go!"

"As long as you try." Phil laid out a blanket on the changing table before Steve climbed up. Steve was surprised to see an adult sized changing table next to the baby sized one in the bathroom. Daddy and he always had to struggle to get him changed standing up back in the 40's.

"Wanna get Clinty somethin'," Steve announced.

"Okay. You can get him something," Phil told him.

"He can't see! Hasta be a surpwise."

"Yeah, Daddy!" Clint called from the toilet. "We're not supposed to know what we're getting for Christmas! How're we gonna get each other presents when we're all together?"

"How about we just shop for each other tomorrow or later? Tony can take Steve and we'll even go to different stores just in case we bump into each other."

"Otay." Steve stuck his pacifier in his mouth and lifted his butt so Phil could put a clean diaper under him.

"Okay, Daddy. You have good ideas sometimes!"

" _Sometimes?_ " Phil teased.

"Nap time's not a very good idea. Or bath time, or quiet time, or no candy before dinner!"

"Ah, so I just let you do whatever you want?"

"Yeah!"

"Never gonna happen."

Steve giggled at the pout on Clint's face he saw in the mirror.

"Daddy, how will I get you your present?"

"Tell Steve what you want to get and he can get it with Tony."

"There's a good idea, Daddy. Keep it up."

"You are such a brat," Phil laughed as he helped Steve off the changing table. "Help Steve get his pants up while I wash my hands, brat. Pull your pants up too."

Clint stuck his tongue out at his daddy and dried his hands on his shirt before pulling his and Steve's pants up.

"Clint lied," Steve observed.

"What did I lie about?" Clint panicked. He can't remember lying about anything! Is he gonna get in trouble for lying about something he can't remember lying about?!

"Said you wasn't gonna go potty, but you did."

"That doesn't count, silly baby. Daddy, can we go shopping now? I wanna get Aunt Natasha a new spider." Every year since Clint and Natasha met, Clint's been getting her a toy spider for Christmas. Usually he finds the spider around Halloween and bam, Christmas present bought, but this year he couldn't find one she didn't already have. He ordered one online special when he was big a few days ago and he's supposed to pick it up at Build-a-Bear. He's gonna get to stuff it and pick out clothes for it!

"Okay, let's go. Where to first?"

"Build-a-Bear!" Clint grabbed Steve's hand and took off running.

\---

"Wow, look at you two!" Tony exclaimed when Clint and Steve ran onto the common floor giggling with a few bags, each holding a new teddy bear from Build-a-Bear. "Did you go Christmas shopping?!"

"Yah," Steve smiled. "Got evwybody pwesents!"

"That's nice. Are you–did you make Phil carry everything?" Tony asked, seeing Phil come in with about 20 bags while Steve and Clint only held two each.

"Yah."

"There's more in the car," Phil groaned, putting all the bags down.

"Wow. You two got a lot of presents, didn't you?"

"Uh-huh!"

"But we still gotta get each other presents, 'cause we can't know what we're getting, so we couldn't shop for each other together," Clint explained.

"That makes sense."

"Uncle Tony 'n' me go shop together?" Steve asked.

"Sure, Steve. I already did most of my Christmas shopping, but I want to get a couple things."

"Otay! Go now?"

"Yeah. You ready?"

"Uh-huh!" Steve put his bags down and gave Clint a tight hug. "Bye, Clinty! Imma get you good presents! Bye bye, Uncle Phil. Get good presents, promise."

Steve hugged his new bear tightly and held Tony's hand, walking to the elevator, excited to go shopping again.

\---

"You're doing really well, James. You'll be able to go home soon. Maybe another week."

"Can I go on Christmas to see Stevie?"

"Yes, I think that would be alright."

"Can I go out to get him some presents?"

"Yes, you can go tomorrow. Would you like to try looking online for some stuff?"

"Yeah. Okay."


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I meant to post this a few hours ago but eh it's still on time technically. I got caught up with homework and Netflix. Anyways:
> 
> I don't think there are any warnings for this chapter, but just let me know about things I should warn against or writing errors and I'll fix it asap. 
> 
> Also, after this chapter I have no idea what's happened with my writing because I read one of the chapters I have prewritten for a future update and it makes no sense at all. I may try to fix it later, but just be warned that from now on my writing is absolute shit compared to the previous chapters

"Stevie, wake up, it's Christmas!" Clint exclaimed, running into Steve's room. Steve whined and turned onto his side, away from Clint. "Don't you wanna come open presents?"

"No. Sleepy."

" _Steve_ , presents! Come on!"

"Cuddle?" Clint nodded and climbed into the crib, giving Steve a hug. He whined loudly when Steve grabbed him and pulled him into his chest, refusing to let go. "Night night, Clinty." Steve put his pacifier in his mouth and sucked on it, falling back to sleep. Clint groaned, but cuddled the baby and fell asleep. It's only 4 AM and he woke up to go potty, so maybe a few more hours of sleep would be okay.

\---

"Merry Christmas!" Steve exclaimed, running around to give everyone hugs and kisses.

"Merry Christmas," every grumbled, sleepily.

"Can we open presents now?!" Clint asked.

"Let's all wake up a bit and have breakfast first," Natasha said, glancing over at Tony who had watery eyes. "I think Tony might start crying if he doesn't get some coffee soon."

"No, no, that's just 'cause I have a 190 pound 2-year old standing on my foot," Tony explained. "Although coffee would be fantastic."

"Sowwy, Unca Tony," Steve apologized, getting off of his foot. He didn't realize he was standing there!

"Here, Tony," Bruce whispered, placing a cup of coffee on the table next to Tony.

"Thanks, Bruce." Tony squeezed Steve tightly before pulling away and downing his entire cup of coffee.

"Baba pwease?" Steve asked, sitting at the table.

"Here you go, Steve," Natasha said, handing him a bottle of milk

"Thank you!" Steve sucked milk out of the bottle before picking up a Christmas tree shaped pancake with his hands and eating it. "Yummy!"

After Steve's little incident where he was put in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s hospital and the doctor said Steve was losing weight, everyone's been trying to make sure he eats more at meal times and has some snacks in between. Tony bought Steve a highchair a while ago for when Steve doesn't want to eat. Phil and Steve made a deal that Steve has to eat at least half of his meal or he'll sit in the highchair until he does. He had to sit in it for an hour one day and only even came out because he fell asleep from crying!

"Done," Steve announced after eating two pancakes, some eggs, and a piece of bacon. Phil cleaned up the baby's hands and face, then cleaned up Clint.

"Daddy, the baby didn't finish his breakfast. He never does!" Clint frowned.

"He doesn't want to finish it. We can't force him to eat it all."

"Why not?"

"Well, you don't like being forced to finish something, do you?" Clint shook his head no. "So why would Steve?"

"I dunno. Why doesn't he wanna finish? It was yummy."

"He's full. He's had enough."

"Oh. Okay. Can we open presents now?"

"Can everyone finish waking up, please?" Tony groaned.

"No."

"Fine." Tony rolled his eyes. "Let's go open presents."

Clint jumped into the air and cheered, grabbing Steve's hand and dragging him over to all the presents under the tree. Steve whined loudly when Clint pulled him down onto the floor.

"Steve? You okay?" Phil asked.

"N-"

"He's fine! Right, Stevie? Ready for presents? Here, this one says Steve." Clint shoved a present into his cousin's hands.

"Clint, please do not answer for him. He has a mouth; he's capable of answering for himself. Are you okay, Steve?"

"Diapey...?" Steve asked, hesitantly. He doesn't want to make Clint upset that he has to wait longer (he's really excited to see what he gets too), but his diaper is getting really uncomfortable.

Clint whined when he heard that, but was shushed by Tony. "Wait 5 minutes for the kid to get a diaper. You wouldn't want to be sitting in an icky diaper for an hour, would you? Right. I have to make a quick call anyway."

"Okay," Clint pouted. "Don't be long!"

"We won't be long. Open your stocking while you wait," Phil told him as he stood up and took Steve to get his diaper changed.

"Uncle Phil, hurts," Steve whimpered. He must have waited too long to ask for a new diaper because he can tell he has a rash now.

"I know, buddy. You have a rash. It's okay, I'm gonna fix it for you," Phil promised, taking out the rash cream. Steve squeezed his eyes shut and sucked oh his pacifier while his uncle put the cream on for him. What a lovely way to start Christmas. Hopefully it will get better once he gets some presents.

Steve slid off the table when he had a diaper and ran back to the presents before he could get pants on.

"Ready for presents now, Stevie?" Clint asked when his baby cousin sat next to him.

"Uh-huh!" Steve stuck his pacifier back in his mouth when it fell out and reached for a present.

Clint smiled as he handed him one. Steve seems a lot happier now that he has a clean diaper. He'll probably be even happier once he opens his presents!

\---

Clint quickly discovered that opening presents with a 2-year old is exhausting. Steve wanted everything open and he wanted to try out all his new toys before moving onto a new present. Clint was very frustrated because he wanted the baby to finish opening everything.

In the end, it took just under two hours for all the presents to be opened and the paper to be cleaned up.

"Wook!" Steve exclaimed, holding up a stuffed alligator from Bruce. "Tank you, Bwucie." Steve crawled over and kissed Bruce's cheek before going to the rest of his toys.

"Daddy, will you open this, please?" Clint asked, holding up his totally awesome RC monster truck.

"Sure, bug. Let me finish putting batteries in Steve's piano," Phil answered. He already hates Natasha for getting him a piano. Sure, Steve will have fun and it'll be fine...until he starts slamming all the keys at once. He is going to have _such_ a headache by the end of the day. Just like every other Christmas.

"Okay, Daddy."

"Hey, Steve," Tony said, coming back from another phone call. Clint didn't like that he kept leaving for phone calls, but Tony said it was about something very important for Steve, so _fine_. He may leave.

"Huh?"

"You have another present on the way. It'll be here _very_ soon."

Steve sat up on his knees, curious. "What is it?!"

"You'll see."

"Can I know what it is?" Clint asked when Steve pouted.

"Nope. You'll both see at the same time." Clint huffed and went back to his toys. "Steve, stand up and come over here." Tony led Steve directly in front of the elevator a few feet away and covered his eyes with his hands. "Almost, kiddo."

Steve heard the elevator ding and the hands were finally removed from his eyes.

His eyes widened when he saw who stepped out and he was overwhelmed by tons of emotions. He didn't know how to react other than shaking and crying.

He finally snapped out of it when Clint stood up and pushed on his butt. "Daddy?" He whispered, shakily, not believing he was really there.

"C'mere, baby boy," Bucky said, holding his arms out. Steve ran across the room and threw himself into his daddy's arms, crying. "Shh, shh, hey baby." Daddy kissed his forehead and squeezed him tightly.

"M-missed you sho much, Daddy," Steve choked out into his neck. "Wuv you."

"I missed you too, babe, and I love you so so much. You didn't think I could stay away from my Stevie for long, did ya?"

"Nuh-uh." Steve whimpered and rubbed his face against Daddy's shirt.

Daddy squeezed him again and kissed his cheek before rocking them and rubbing his back soothingly. "Merry Christmas, baby boy," he whispered when his baby was finally calm. "Let's go wash your face, then I have a present for you."

"Dada," Steve whimpered when Daddy tried to pull away.

"Shh. Be my big boy and let's go wash your face. Come on." Bucky pulled away and took Steve's hand, leading him into the kitchen to get a wet paper towel and clean his face. He held a tissue up to his nose and told him to blow. "Blow. Again. Again. There you go. Good boy."

Steve held his daddy's sleeve tightly and followed him back to everyone else. Tony grabbed the bag of presents Bucky brought and took it over to where Bucky sat on the floor with Steve in his lap.

"I um...got something for everyone," Bucky explained. "I don't really know what you all like, but here." Bucky handed over envelopes with a card that said 'Merry Christmas' and inside the card was a gift card for different stores.

"Thanks, Buck," Tony said for everyone.

"Thank you!" Clint exclaimed. He got a gift card for Toys R Us, so he's probably going to ask his daddy to take him there tomorrow!

"You're welcome."

"Dada?" Steve asked, looking up at his daddy.

"I got you a present too. Do you want it?"

"Uh-huh!" Steve nodded his head.

"I don't think you do," Daddy teased.

"I do!"

"Give me a kiss first. You didn't even give me a kiss, Steve! What the heck?"

Steve gasped. He can't believe he didn't give Daddy a kiss! He quickly sat up and kissed Daddy all over his face, making him laugh.

"Okay, okay. Thank you, thank you, I love you too. Here, baby." Daddy handed him a perfectly wrapped box and Steve leaned back against Daddy's chest while he opened it. He pulled out a photo album and flipped it open. There were tons of pictures of them since they met as children until a couple days before the plane. At the end there was a square without a picture. Above it said: 'Reunited'.

"Thank you, Daddy! I wuv it."

"Wanna take a picture, baby boy?"

"Yah."

Bucky pulled his phone out and told Steve to look into the camera and smile. Bucky took a selfie of them before putting his phone away. "I'll print this out later and we can put this in, okay, baby?"

"Kay, Daddy."

"Are you and Stevie gonna move away?" Clint asked, sadly. He doesn't want them to leave. Steve is his baby cousin and he loves him and wants to play with him! Bucky seems cool too, so far.

"Daddy?" Steve whimpered, looking up into his daddy's face with wide, innocent eyes. He's so happy Daddy is back, but he doesn't wanna leave. He wants to stay with his cousin and his aunt and uncles. "Don't wanna leave."

"It's a good thing we're not leaving then, ain't it, baby?" Bucky started.

"Yeah, there's no way I'd let you two leave," Tony explained. "If I was going to let you leave, I wouldn't have given you your own personal floor and your bedroom in the nursery wouldn't be as awesome as it is."

"If anything, you might move up to my room from your room in the nursery," Bucky shrugged. "We have lots of cuddles to catch up on."

"Otay, Daddy." Steve cuddled into his daddy's chest, then told him, "Aunt Peggy gonna be mad at you."

"Oh jeez. She'll probably skin me alive."

"Miss Aunt Peggy."

"I know, babe. We'll go see her later."

Steve gasped. "Weally?!"

"Yeah. We found out about her. It'll be a bit of a drive from where we are, but we can go see her. I got you something you can give her."

"Otay, Daddy." Steve smiled and hugged his daddy tightly. "Wanna pway toys?"

"Of course, baby! I always want to play with you!"

"When are you two gonna leave?" Clint wondered while he set up some toys, getting ready to run them over with his truck.

"Uh, I think everyone will go their own way after lunch and meet back together later for a late-ish dinner."

"That sounds good," Bruce commented. "I have work in the lab I wanna do."

Bucky looked over at Bruce, surprised to hear him speak. He hasn't heard him say anything yet besides _thank you_ when Bucky gave him his card. He never even said much on the phone when Bucky started calling and texting everyone to get to know them a bit before he moved in. Mostly, Bruce has just been staring at Steve and Clint with a look that Bucky _thinks_ is jealousy, but he can't imagine what he would be jealous about.

"Okay. What do we have that I could make for lunch?"

"I'll make lunch," Natasha volunteered, standing up. Bucky stood too, awkwardly with his very large two-year old clinging to him like a leech.

"At least let me help you." Bucky shifted Steve onto his hip and held one hand under his butt. This was a lot easier when he was tiny, but he loves Steve no matter what his size is.

"That's okay. You have Steve."

"He can help. He likes cooking, right, babe?"

"Uh-huh!" Steve smiled, popping his pacifier in his mouth and resting his head against Daddy's head.

"I know you like cooking," Natasha smiled. Steve's helped cook before. (He's even made dinner by himself when he was big.) He's pretty good. He's a lot better at cooking than at baking, anyway. Nobody will ever forget the cookies Steve made them all that day. Tony still has nightmares about them.

"So let us help."

"Oh alright. I'm just making sandwiches, though."

"Well, there are a lot of mouths to feed, and I'm sure quite a few of us can eat two or three sandwiches." Bucky tickled Steve's tummy, making him giggle around his pacifier.

"The baby never eats more than one and a half on a good day," Clint commented.

"What? Why?"

"I dunno. He doesn't wanna eat a lot. Daddy says we can't force him to finish, but he's supposed to eat at least half his food or he goes in the highchair until he does."

Bucky frowned and decided he would talk to Steve about this later, in private.

"Wanna baba pwease."

"Okay, babe. Help Natasha take food orders and I'll go get you a bottle. Milk?"

"Apple juice, pwease."

"Alright." Bucky put Steve on the ground, wincing at how tightly he held onto him, not wanting to be separated. He finally pulled away, kissing the side of his head before going into the kitchen and making up a bottle.

"We need a lot of bread," Natasha commented, leading Steve into the kitchen. Bucky handed his baby his bottle before grabbing seven plates.

"How many sandwiches are we making?"

"How many do you want?"

"Two, I guess."

"Thirteen. Steve and I both only want one. Bruce wants 3 and everyone else wants two."

"That _is_ a lot of bread."

The three of them got to work making sandwiches. Well, Bucky and Natasha made the sandwiches while Steve drank juice and supervised. Steve told them when they had too little or two much of something. (No, Dada, Clinty wikes lotsa turkey! Uncle Tony no eat 'nough, Aunt Tasha; give him lots on sammich!)

Bucky sent his baby out to tell everyone that lunch was ready while they put the sandwiches in the correct spots at the table. "Lunch's ready." Steve pulled Phil up and gave him a hug before doing the same to everyone else.

Clint grabbed his cousin's hand and followed him to the kitchen, yawning. Phil smiled. It looks like Clint is getting tired. Hopefully, he'll take a nap after lunch.

\---

As soon as everyone finished with lunch and agreed on a time to meet for dinner, Bruce quickly went down to his lab. He saw a little tiny wrapped box left on the table he had last been working at and picked it up, confused. It has a tag on the side that said his name, but not who it was from.

"JARVIS, who's this from?" He wondered.

" _That is from Master Stark_ ," The AI replied.

Bruce looked at it weird. Why didn't Tony just give it to him upstairs in the common room? Finally, he opened the box and blushed. _Oh.... That's why._

Inside the box, was a green and white striped pacifier.

\---

"Aunt Peggy?" Steve whispered, waddling up to the old, frail woman laying in bed.

"Steve," she smiled. "You're okay."

"Yeah. I'm otay. So's Dada."

"Come here." Peggy patted the bed next to her and Steve sat down, carefully giving her a hug. His Aunt Peggy squeezed him tightly.

"Merry Chwistmas, Aunt Peggy."

"Merry Christmas, Steve."

"Steve? You wanna give Aunt Peggy her presents now?" Bucky asked. Steve nodded. Bucky gave Steve the bag with the presents to give to her.

"Thank you, boys," Peggy smiled when she opened the bag and pulled out a wool blanket and a stuffed kitten. "I love them both. I have a present for both of you in a bag over by the dresser." Steve had cuddled into Peggy's side, so Bucky went over and grabbed the bag, bringing it back over to the bed.

"Wanna open it, baby?" Bucky asked. Steve nodded and sat up to pull out a green fuzzy blanket with a cartoon monkey on it and a bunch of books called ' _Harry Potter_ '.

"Thank you, Aunt Peggy!" Steve smiled, hugging the blanket.

"You're welcome. I thought you two might like some new books to read at bedtime. I think you'll like them."

"Wha's it about?"

"You'll find out when Daddy decides to read it to you, won't you?" Peggy tapped Steve's nose, making him giggle.

"How about we read a bit now?" Bucky suggested. Steve nodded, excitedly and Peggy smiled.

"We never gotta cuddled," Steve told his aunt while his daddy sat on the end of the bed and got settled.

"That's right. We'll have our cuddles now, alright?" Peggy smiled as Steve snuggled into her side and pulled the blanket farther up them both.

Bucky finally settled in and started reading. They got through the first two chapters of the first book before Steve fell asleep.

Bucky and Peggy both smiled at the sleeping toddler. They talked for a little while longer before Bucky said they had to go. He promised they would visit Peggy often, though.

Bucky lifted his baby and carried him to the car, placing him in the car seat.

\---

"Tony?" Bruce asked, standing outside the doors to Tony's workshop.

"Hmm?" Tony asked, not paying attention at all. He's trying to get something done for Pepper before she decides to kill him for not doing any work.

"That present you left in my lab...."

"Huh? Oh. Yeah. Did you like it?"

Bruce blushed as Tony finally turned to look at him. "Wh-why did you give me a pacifier? I'm not a baby. I'm not even a little."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?" He was sure Bruce is little. He sucks his thumb when he sleeps, he doesn't even play with Steve and Clint much, but he still plays with their toys, he gets really cranky when he doesn't get enough sleep, and he's thrown one or two tantrums in Tony's presence. And sure, Tony gets cranky and has tantrums, but he's taken the test to see if he's little four times since he was 20! Every time it's said he's not little.

"Yeah...."

"Have you ever been tested?"

"Well...no. But I know I'm not."

"I think you should take the test. Does Fury know you never took it?"

"I told him I couldn't. He believes me about being big. Which I am, mind you."

"Are you sure you can't take it?"

Bruce didn't answer. He could take it, he just doesn't want to. He knows he's big, so he doesn't need to!

"Come on. Let's go find someone at S.H.I.E.L.D. to test you."

"Do we have to?" Bruce is afraid to be tested. What if he _is_ a little? He's not ready to be told that he's not who he thinks he is. He thought he'd finally figured it out and learned how to control the Hulk.

"No. Of course not. I'm not going to _force_ you to do anything. I never will, Bruce. I just think you should make sure because if you _are_ little you need someone to take care of you."

"Fine. Just to prove that I'm not little."

"Okay. Do you want me to go with you?"

Bruce nodded quietly and followed Tony to the garage.

\---

"Hey, kiddo," Tony smiled when Steve returned, sleepily stumbling to the couch while Bucky followed behind him. "How was your day?"

"Sleepy," Steve mumbled.

"Yeah? Did you have a nice time seeing Aunt Peggy, though?"

"We sure did, right, Stevie?" Bucky asked, smiling. "You gave her her presents and you got a new blankie and some books! And you got to cuddle her."

"Mhmm." Steve stuck his pacifier in his mouth and hugged his blanket.

"That's awesome! Hey, since everyone is here now, I have to talk to you about something...." Everyone looked up, worriedly and Tony rolled his eyes. "Oh, I'm not throwing you out! I'm not cruel enough to do that on Christmas _even if I was_ going to do that! I like having you here, but don't quote me on that."

"Okay, what do you wanna talk about?" Phil asked.

"Wait!" Clint exclaimed. "Not everyone's here, we can't talk. Brucie's not here."

"This is about him."

"Daddy says it's not nice to talk about people when they aren't there to defend themselfs."

"I do say that, but I doubt Tony's gonna say anything bad about Bruce," Phil said, pulling his little boy into his lap.

"Okay. Is Bruce okay?"

"He's fine. Steve, Clint, how would you two like to have a little cousin?"

"Another little cousin?" Clint asked, excitedly. He loves having Steve as his little cousin; another little cousin would be awesome! Tony nodded.

"No," Steve frowned. He doesn't want a little cousin for two reasons: he doesn't want to share his uncle with _another_ person and he likes being the baby! He doesn't want a new baby!

"Why not?" Tony frowned. Steve explained his reasoning for not wanting a little cousin. "You'll have fun with him, Steve. You'll get used to him. And it's not like you'll never see me again. I'll just have another responsibility. If anything, you'll see me more."

Steve huffed and cuddled into his daddy, sucking his pacifier. "You know you'll always be my little baby, right?" Daddy asked him.

"Uh-huh."

"Good." Bucky squeezed his baby and kissed the top of his head.

"So how did this happen?" Natasha wondered. She's surprised Tony noticed something before she did. Tony doesn't seem to pay attention to anything, whereas Natasha pays attention to _every little detail._

"I found out he's never been tested to see if he's actually big or if he's little," Tony began. "And he has his moments where his little side would peek out, so I asked him about it and took him to S.H.I.E.L.D. to take the test. He's about a year and a half old, give or take a couple months."

"Wow. That's really little," Phil commented. "Clint, you're really going to have to be quiet and gentle when you're playing with Bruce."

"Especially because of the Hulk," Bucky added.

"Nah, he should be fine about Hulk," Tony shrugged. "You'll still have to be quiet and gentle because he's just a baby. He's younger than Steve, even."

Steve huffed and buried his face into his daddy's neck.

"I don't think you'll be playing with him for a few days. I think I want to let him get comfortable with being little and get him used to it first. But it depends on what he wants."

"Is he gonna getta room in the nursery?" Clint wondered.

"Yup. I'm going to order stuff for him after dinner. He can just sleep on my floor until his room is set up."

"He can sleep in Steve's room until his is ready. Stevie's gonna sleep with me for a bit anyway," Bucky volunteered.

"But...mine. Daddy." Steve pouted up at his daddy. How dare he offer his room away like that?!

"I know it's yours, baby, but you won't be sleeping in it for a while. Bruce will only be using your room to sleep in. And maybe for diaper changes if he's going to be wearing diapers."

"Oh yeah. Definitely wearing diapers," Tony said.

Bruce had an accident in the car ride home after he finished his tantrum and calmed down. Having the accident just made him start crying again. Tony had to put Bruce in one of Clint's pull-ups when they got home because Steve's diapers are too big for him. Clint's pull-ups don't quite fit him either and they're not so great for holding a lot, but it's better than nothing. Tony will get Bruce diapers first thing in the morning.

"Stevie? Will you please let Bruce sleep in your room?" Bucky asked.

"Fine," Steve mumbled.

"Thank you."

"Thank you, Steve. Bruce will appreciate that," Tony smiled.

"Hmmf." All the adults inwardly sighed. A jealous 2-year old is always fun to deal with.

" _Sir, Bruce has woken up and is crying_ ," JARVIS said.

Tony jumped up and ran to his baby. Bruce was sitting up on the couch in the nursery, full on sobbing. It broke Tony's heart to see that. It's worse than the tantrum or crying from the accident was.

"What's wrong, baby?" Tony cooed, sitting next to Bruce and bringing him into his arms. The baby just continued crying, albeit softer. "How about we go get you changed? Maybe that will help."

Tony lifted the baby into his arms and carried him into Steve's room, grabbing one of Clint's pull-ups on the way. He's sure Clint won't mind he's using a few of his pull-ups. Phil, maybe, but Tony's the one who bought all these pull-ups, so he can use as many as he damn well pleases for his baby boy. ...He'll buy another package of pull-ups while he gets Bruce his own diapers tomorrow.

Bruce's cries quieted more after being changed, but he was still crying a bit. "Want a baba? Hmm? That always makes Steve stop crying."

"No!" Bruce said his first word into his new daddy's chest.

"What then? I don't know what else to do." Tony bounced his baby, not having any idea how to calm him down. Surprisingly, the bouncing actually calmed him. "Okay, then. I'll make a note of that: bouncing calms you down. Good. Wanna go see everyone else?"

"Otay...." Bruce held tightly to Daddy's shirt for the ride back to the common floor.

"Hi, baby Brucie," Clint greeted, smiling.

Steve looked up at the baby and crossed his arms. As much as his daddy, uncles, and auntie tell him, he'll never get used to the baby. He's been the baby forever! He's not ready to give that up.

"Steve, say hi to your cousin," Daddy commanded him. Steve turned his head into Daddy's shoulder and didn't answer. Daddy sighed. "C'mon, Stevie. You're not being replaced as the baby. There's just another baby here now."

"Want Bear."

"You can have your bear when you look at your little cousin and say hi to him."

Steve turned to Bruce and told him 'hi' before turning back to his daddy. "Bear now, Dada?"

"Fine. Go get him." Steve whined. He wants Daddy to get him his bear! "Your legs don't look broken to me, Stevie; you can get your bear by yourself."

"Here, Stevie," Clint said, handing Bear over when he got tired of Steve's whining.

"Thank you, Clinty." Steve hugged Bear tightly and rested his head against Daddy's chest.

"You're welcome, baby." Clint kissed Steve's nose, making him giggle. Clint turned to Tony and Bruce next, wondering if he could make Bruce giggle too. Or at least smile. "Does Brucie gotta favorite teddy?"

"No, not yet," Tony answered. "I'll get him some stuff at the store tomorrow and order more tonight."

"Oh, okay. Does he wanna play with me?"

"I don't know. Why don't you ask him?" Tony gently bounced Bruce on his hip for a second to get his attention.

"Okay. Brucie, do you wanna play? We can do whatever you want!"

Bruce nodded, but refused to let his daddy put him down.

"Uppy," he demanded.

"You can't play if I'm holding you, silly head," Tony explained gently. "I'm gonna put you down to play with Clint, but I'll be right in here, so you can come get me if you need me or want a cuddle, okay?"

"Otay...." Bruce finally allowed himself to be set on the floor and he watched Tony walk to one of the couches and sit next to Natasha.

"What do you wanna play with?" Clint asked. Bruce shrugged quietly. "How about blocks? Stevie loves blocks!"

"Otay."

"Okay. Daddy, will you get the blocks, please?" Phil said okay since Clint used nice manners and he stood up to go get them. "Steve, do you wanna play blocks with us?"

"No," Steve answered.

"Are you sure?"

Steve hummed and Bucky frowned. "Go play, baby. You'll have fun."

"No. Want Dada."

"Okay, baby." Bucky understands that his baby is going to be even more clingy than usual, so he'll let him stay with him for now. He wants Steve to play with Clint and Bruce sooner or later, though.

"Love you, Dada."

"I love you too, baby."

Steve cuddled into Daddy's chest while watching his cousins play until dinner. This was a pretty great Christmas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh PS: I made a Tumblr  
> Go follow me if you want but be prepared for probably no actual posts by me and a bunch of stuff reblogged  
> http://azbear1.tumblr.com


	6. Bonus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So people wanted to see what the test Bruce took in ch 5 was like so enjoy.   
> I may or may not still update on Monday (I probably will, but I'm not 100% sure) but here ya go, happy thanksgiving (or if you don't celebrate that, happy Thursday or Friday depending on when you read this cuz it's kinda late now...) but either way, I'm thankful for all of you who read my terrible writing every week c:

"Tony?" Bruce asked, standing outside the doors to Tony's workshop.

"Hmm?" Tony asked, not paying attention at all. He's trying to get something done for Pepper before she decides to kill him for not doing any work.

"That present you left in my lab...."

"Huh? Oh. Yeah. Did you like it?"

Bruce blushed as Tony finally turned to look at him. "Wh-why did you give me a pacifier? I'm not a baby. I'm not even a little."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?" He was sure Bruce is little. He sucks his thumb when he sleeps, he doesn't even play with Steve and Clint much, but he still plays with their toys, he gets really cranky when he doesn't get enough sleep, and he's thrown one or two tantrums in Tony's presence. And sure, Tony gets cranky and has tantrums, but he's taken the test to see if he's little four times since he was 20! Every time it's said he's not little.

"Yeah...."

"Have you ever been tested?"

"Well...no. But I know I'm not."

"I think you should take the test. Does Fury know you never took it?"

"I told him I couldn't. He believes me about being big. Which I am, mind you."

"Are you sure you can't take it?"

Bruce didn't answer. He could take it, he just doesn't want to. He knows he's big, so he doesn't need to!

"Come on. Let's go find someone at S.H.I.E.L.D. to test you."

"Do we have to?" Bruce is afraid to be tested. What if he _is_ a little? He's not ready to be told that he's not who he thinks he is. He thought he'd finally figured it out and learned how to control the Hulk.

"No. Of course not. I'm not going to _force_ you to do anything. I never will, Bruce. I just think you should make sure because if you _are_ little you need someone to take care of you."

"Fine. Just to prove that I'm not little."

"Okay. Do you want me to go with you?"

Bruce nodded quietly and followed Tony to the garage.

\---

"I thought you said you couldn't take the test," Fury asked.

"I lied. I do that sometimes," Bruce shrugged.

Fury rolled his eye. "Okay. Well, Shannon will test you and I'll be back in a few minutes." Fury left and Bruce looked at Tony nervously. This is it. He's going to find out if he's little now.

"Do you want me to stay with you?" Tony asked. Bruce quickly nodded. "Okay. I'll be right here."

"Okay, Bruce," Shannon started. "I'm going to ask you to strip and lay down on the bed now."

Bruce blushed, but did as he was told. He's always been embarrassed about his body. When the other boys in his school were growing body hair and getting larger, Bruce still looked like a 9-year old when he was actually 14.

Tony already knows Bruce is little; he just _knows_. But he was surprised when he saw his friend naked. About 85% of littles look their age with their bodies (i.e. little or no body hair, having a smaller penis or boobs than most other people their age or body size, etc.). Bruce's body looks like an 11-year old's.

"Okay. Now I want you to follow this light with your eyes." Shannon got a little light and waved it back and forth in front of Bruce's face. Bruce's eyes followed it without moving his head. "Good job."

Next, Shannon had Tony talk to Bruce about science while she snapped her fingers around Bruce every couple of seconds and Bruce was always quick to look at the source of the sound.

"Alright, now," Shannon started, grabbing two different books. "Pick which one you want Tony to read to you." She set them down on the bed and Bruce looked at them both.

One of them is a book about science, which Bruce normally _loves_ reading. The other one is a book about pigs and pancakes. Bruce adores science, but he's already read this book and he's curious about the other one, so he pointed to the kiddie book.

"Why do you want Tony to read you that one? There's nothing wrong with that, but I'm just curious," Shannon wondered.

"I already read the other one, but I never really read any kids books," Bruce explained, blushing.

Shannon just nodded and pointed at Tony and the book to tell Tony to read it to him. Tony picked up the book and sat down next to Bruce. Bruce cuddled into Tony's side and listened to him read the book.

By the time Tony finished, Bruce had his head resting against the former's chest while he sucked his thumb. Once Bruce noticed what he was doing, he blushed and tore his thumb out of his mouth.

"I want to go home," Bruce whispered.

"I know," Tony said. "You're almost done. One more thing, I think. You could probably put your clothes back on if you'd be more comfortable like that." Bruce nodded and slipped off of the bed to get dressed again.

"You're doing good, Bruce. The last thing we're going to do is a puzzle." Shannon grabbed a 100 piece puzzle and opened it up, dumping the pieces on a table. "I want you to do this all by yourself, okay?"

"Okay," Bruce answered, sitting back down next to Tony. Bruce sat quietly as he did the puzzle. After a few minutes, he started to get frustrated that he couldn't put the pieces together. He started to cry and kick.

"Shh, Bruce, hey, it's okay," Tony comforted, pulling his friend into his arms to hug him. "Do you want me to help you?" Bruce sniffled and nodded. "Okay. C'mere." Tony wiped the tears from Bruce's eyes, then helped him with the puzzle. Tony's been doing puzzles way more complex than this since he was 3-years old. He loved puzzles as a child and now, when he builds things, he thinks of it as putting a puzzle together.

"And put that last piece there. Good job! High five!" Bruce grinned and slapped Tony's hand with his own.

"Look at the puppies, Tony! They're cute!"

"I see. They're adorable. You did a good job today, Bruce." Bruce smiled widely and hugged a pillow tightly. Bruce didn't even notice when Shannon walked out and a few minutes later Director Fury was standing at the end of the bed. Tony tapped on Bruce's shoulder to get his attention.

"Puppies," Bruce said, showing Fury his puzzle.

"I see. Doctor Banner, I wish you would have taken the test sooner because now we need to find a caregiver for you and you'll probably have to stay here until we can."

"Wait, why?" Bruce frowned, worriedly. Is there something wrong with him?

"Your test results showed that you're little. Usually, you would need to take another test to see what age, but Shannon is the best at guessing someone's age, and she thinks you're about a year old."

Bruce's eyes widened. "No.... The test was wrong. Let me try again."

"I'm sorry, Doctor Banner. The test is never wrong. We need to find you a caregiver now. You're going to have to stay here until we do so we can take care of you."

"Hey, Nicky," Tony said, holding Bruce as he started crying. This is exactly why he never wanted to take the stupid test! "I'm definitely big. I've been tested 4 times in the last 20 years. I was even told I could be a caregiver the last time, and that was right before I became Iron Man. If Bruce wants, I would be happy to be his caregiver. It would probably be better anyway. Bruce knows me and is comfortable around me and so are the other Avengers."

"Alright. If Bruce wants you as his caregiver."

"Bruce?"

"Want Tony," Bruce cried. He doesn't even need to think about it. He and Tony are perfect for each other. They already know each other and they get along, have the same interests, and they trust each other and are comfortable with one another. It's hard for him to trust new people and if he's going to be little, he wants someone he can trust to take care of him.

"Okay. We just gotta go sign a couple things, then we can go home, alright?"

"Okay," Bruce sniffled, holding off on having his tantrum until they're in the car. He doesn't want to embarrass himself in front of Fury.

"Do you want to walk?" Bruce shook his head quickly and cuddled into Tony's chest. "Okay. I've got you." Tony stood up with Bruce on his hip and carried him out of the room where Shannon was getting papers out.

"You can take him into our nursery," Shannon said.

"Actually, Stark is going to be Bruce's caregiver," Fury explained.

"Oh! Okay. I just need another minute to get the correct papers together, then." Tony nodded and gently rubbed Bruce's back to calm him down a bit.

Shannon quickly gathered the papers and handed them to Tony, expecting him to read them over. Tony just set the papers down, grabbed a pen, and started signing. He went with his friend when he got his little; he knows what the paper says. He doesn't care; he's ready and he just wants to get Bruce home.

Bruce signed everything next, resting his head on Tony's shoulder. "If you want to go to our nursery for a minute, we can set you up with some diapers, et cetera," Shannon offered.

"No, that's alright, thanks. Someone on our team is 2-years old, so we have plenty of bottle and diapers. And between the two year old and the five year old, we have plenty of toys, especially since today was Christmas. They got a bunch more toys. I'll probably get Bruce more toys soon anyway. Would you like that, Bruce?" Tony squeezed Bruce and the latter grunted in response. "Alright. Well, we're gonna go home now. Thanks for everything."

Tony waved to Shannon and Fury, then walked out with Bruce.

As soon as they were in the car, Bruce was throwing his tantrum in the backseat of Tony's car. "I don't wanna be little!" Bruce cried, kicking his legs. "I finally figured myself out just to be told it's a lie and I'm a little! I'm not little!"

"Bruce! The test doesn't lie. It's _always_ right. Being little won't be so bad. Steve and Clint love being little. And we'll all help you figure yourself out again. I promise."

"No! I don't–" Bruce stopped all of a sudden and got very quiet.

"Bruce? You okay?" Tony looked in the mirror to see Bruce with tears streaming down his face. The air was filled with the scent of urine and Tony noticed a huge dark spot on Bruce's crotch. "Oh, Bruce.... It's okay. It was just an accident, it happens."

"Daddy," Bruce whimpered.

"It's okay, baby. You're okay. We'll be home real soon and you can have a bath." Bruce started crying then because he wants to get out and get cuddles. "Oh, baby.... Daddy's driving as fast as he can, I promise. I know you want to get home and get clean. I think we'll even try a bottle."

Tony started to speed up after a bit and was definitely going over the speed limit, but that's okay because he got Bruce home and in the tub 15 minutes after leaving S.H.I.E.L.D.

"Daddy," Bruce whined, yawning.

"I know, baby. Daddy's right here. Just gotta get you cleaned up, then you can have a nap. Today was stressful, wasn't it?" Bruce hummed in agreement and gently splashed his daddy when he poured water over his head. "Silly baby." Tony tapped his baby's nose, making him giggle slightly. Tony smiled, hearing him giggle. He instantly decided that's his new favorite sound in the world.

"Alright, up we get, into a towel, then into some pajamas maybe you can borrow a diaper from one of your cousins. We'll go to the nursery and see." Tony picked Bruce up and wrapped him in a towel. He went out to his room and grabbed a big t-shirt to put on Bruce. Tony dried his baby in the elevator on the way down to the nursery.

Tony tossed the towel in the hamper in the bathroom, grabbing one of Clint's pull-ups from under the sink and slipping it up his baby's legs. "We'll get you your own diapers and clothes and stuff tomorrow, okay, baby?" Bruce hummed and put his arms up for Tony to put the shirt on him. Tony smiled seeing how his shirt looks so big on Bruce. Granted, that shirt is a bit big on Tony (but it's his favorite AC/DC shirt, so he doesn't care), but it's not as big as it is on Bruce. Tony's shirt goes just down past Bruce's butt.

"You're cute," Tony smiled, squeezing his baby. "Let's go get a baba now. Aunt Tasha and Uncle Phil are making dinner later. Steve might help. Who knows. He said he might bake something. Maybe he'll make you some cookies." Bruce hummed around the bottle in his mouth and curled into his daddy's chest.

Tony smiled slightly when he saw Bruce start to fight falling asleep. "Go to sleep, baby. When you wake up just call for me and I'll come as fast as possible. JARVIS will let me know when you wake up. I love you, baby." Bruce finally fell asleep and Tony smiled down at him, fondly. He already loves his baby so much. He's glad he talked Bruce into taking the test finally.

Bruce is the youngest here now and he has two older cousins who might be jealous of him. This should be interesting.


	7. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: panic attacks, implications of past [child] abuse (briefly; blink and you miss it)  
> I think that's it. Let me know if I missed something and I'll add to this

_"Nobody likes you, Bruce."_

_"You're so stupid and disgusting."_

_"I hope you know how much I hate being your daddy. Even being your friend is horrible."_

_"You're a bad baby and you're gross!"_

_"Go away, icky baby."_

Bruce woke up, crying. That was a horrible nightmare! He wants Daddy. But...the dream was probably how everyone really feels. He should just leave before he makes everything worse.

Bruce sniffled as he climbed out of his crib (he's really glad Clint taught him how to do this; he must have known it would come in handy for getting rid of the stupid new baby). He grabbed his pacifier (just incase) and left his bedroom, going to the elevator and leaving the tower. He immediately regretted that, but _only_ because its so cold out and he doesn't have a jacket or shoes on. He left in his science themed footed sleeper and a damp diaper.

Bruce kept walking, despite being freezing cold.

\---

"Unca Tony, wha's wrong?" Steve frowned from where he sat on his daddy's lap. Tony's been running around for like an hour.

Tony finally collapsed on the couch in between Phil and Bucky. "Bruce is missing," he whispered.

"What do you mean?" Phil asked, worried.

"He's missing! I don't know where he is! I looked everywhere in this goddamn tower and he's not here!"

"Are you sure you looked everywhere?" Bucky asked.

"Yes! I'm positive!"

"Did you ask JARVIS if he's here?" Tony didn't reply. "You didn't, did you? JARVIS, where's Bruce?"

 _"Bruce left around midnight,"_ the AI replied.

Tony's eyes widened. "What?! Why the hell did you let him leave?! He's a baby!"

"And there are two babies here now, so quit cursing," Phil demanded.

_"I was not aware that he was little at the time. He had climbed out of his crib, so I thought he woke up big. I'm sorry, sir."_

"So he's out there alone _little_?! And it's snowing out! And I doubt he got himself properly dressed. And–"

"Tony, we'll help you find him. We all will," Bucky told him. "Okay?"

"Okay," Tony whispered. "I'm gonna go out and start looking. I'll take my phone. Call me if any of you find him." And with that, Tony left.

"Baby gone?" Steve whispered, guiltily. He knows it's probably his fault the baby left. He hasn't played with him yet or even talked to him. He didn't make him feel welcome here. When they find the baby, he's going to change that.

"Yeah. But we're gonna find him. Come on, baby, let's go get your jacket and boots on."

"Otay, Daddy." Bucky stood up Steve on his hip and followed Phil and Clint into the elevator and up to the nursery.

"We'll find Brucie, right, Daddy?" Clint frowned.

"Of course we will," Phil promised.

"Okay, good. Being lost is really scary and Brucie's so little. He's probably terrified."

Steve sniffled and started crying into his daddy's shoulder. "Hey, what'sa matter, baby boy?"

"M-my fault," Steve cried.

"What? Why would you say that?"

"I no wanted baby; no pwayed wif him. He no feel wanted 'cause a me!"

"Shh, it's okay, baby. I'm sure he didn't leave because of you. Now come on; let's go find him and bring him home."

\---

"Tony, I promise you, we _will_ find him," Bucky said.

"When? Where? He's been missing for 24 hours now in the freezing cold in pajamas. I'll probably get a call from the hospital saying he has hypothermia!"

"Maybe, but he'll have been found." Tony glared daggers at Bucky.

"Um.... Uncle Tony? I found Brucie," Clint said from where he was watching TV. The ball is about to drop in Times Square and they're watching it on TV. Steve and Clint were allowed to stay up to watch it.

"What?! Where?" Tony demanded.

Clint pointed at the TV where people had started counting down. In the crowd was a small-ish man in a light blue footed sleeper with microscopes, beakers, etc, looking really scared and crying slightly.

"Oh no.... JARVIS, get one of my suits ready. _Now_." Tony stood up and ran to get in a suit.

"Hulk's not gonna like the noise," Clint stated.

About 5 minutes later, Iron Man was on the TV. But so was the Hulk.

Everyone watched as Tony lured Hulk away and eventually, they were gone.

\---

"Bruce, it's okay!" Tony said softly when he got Hulk to an abandoned factory about 20 miles away from Times Square. "It's okay, baby boy. Daddy's here now. Come on, baby, calm down. I'm right here."

Hulk stopped and just looked at Tony who was still fully inside the Iron Man suit. Tony took the head off and put it on the ground so Bruce/Hulk could see him. "I'm right here, Bruce. Calm down, baby. It's okay. I have a blanket for you and some new pajamas and a diaper in this bag. See?" Tony took the backpack off and opened it up to show Hulk. "Don't you wanna put them on?"

Tony sighed in relief as Hulk started shrinking back down to his little baby. "Come here, baby." Tony took the blanket out and ran to Bruce, wrapping him up as he started crying.

"Daddy," Bruce sobbed. He fully regrets running away now. That was such a stupid idea, even if everybody does hate him and want him gone. It's a lot scarier out here than it is living with six people who hate him.

"Yes, baby. Daddy's here. You're safe now. You must have been so scared, huh?"

"Uh-huh. And cold."

"Aw, my poor baby. Come on, we can put your pajamas on when we get home. You need a nice warm bath and a bottle. And we need to talk about that running away stunt."

Bruce whimpered as he was gathered up into Daddy's arms. He's going to be in so much trouble! He'll probably get locked in the closet with no food for a week!

"I sowwy."

"Shh, we'll talk about this when we get home." Tony gathered everything up and wiped Bruce's pacifier off before giving it to him. Hulk dropped it when he turned back into Bruce. "Are you ready? I promise I'm holding you real tight. You won't fall, baby boy."

"Otay, Daddy," Bruce sniffled.

10 minutes later, Bruce was in a warm bath in the bathroom in the nursery. Daddy was quietly washing dirt and ickiness off his face with a soft washcloth.

"Dada mad?" Bruce finally asked.

"I don't know what I am," Daddy replied, honestly. "Why did you run away like that, baby?"

"Dweam."

"You had a bad dream?" Bruce nodded. "Well, why didn't you just call out for me? There's a baby monitor in your room for a reason. And JARVIS is here too whenever you need me and I'm not around."

"Dada no want me. No one do. I icky stupid baby." Bruce sniffled and started crying again.

Tony felt his heart break. "Who said that?"

"Dweam."

"That's not true, Bruce. We all want you here; we all love you! Especially me. How could I not? You're my baby boy and my best friend and my science buddy. Aren't you?"

Bruce sniffled and nodded. Daddy's right. He loves his little boy. He's sure everyone else at least _likes_ him, if not loves him. If they didn't, nobody would ever play with him or talk to him! Well...maybe Steve hates him in that case. But he can live with one person hating him. He can live with everybody hating him as long as Daddy loves him.

"Yeah, you are." Tony kissed his baby's forehead. "Can you do something for me, Bruce?" Bruce nodded, looking up with wide, innocent eyes. "Next time you have a bad dream like that, just call for me and talk to me instead of running away. I was so worried. Everyone was."

"Otay, Dada. Sowwy."

"It's okay, baby. You're home now and you're safe." Tony gave Bruce a tight hug before he started washing him. Bruce is probably starving! Poor baby. And he's probably so tired. "JARVIS? Could you ask Phil or someone to make Bruce a warm bottle and heat up some chicken and mashed potatoes for him?"

 _"Phil started doing that when you came home with Bruce,"_ JARVIS replied.

"Okay. Thanks, J."

"Hungry, Dada," Bruce yawned.

"I know, baby. Let's get you in a diaper and some pajamas first." Tony lifted his baby out of the tub once he was clean and dried him off, carrying him to his bedroom. Tony placed him down on the changing table and Bruce looked around at all the animals on the jungle themed wall.

All the walls in his room are themed differently. One wall is jungle themed, one is farm themed, one is Disney themed, and one is science themed. The sheets in his crib have science-y things on them and the comforter has The Lion King (his favorite Disney movie) on it. Bruce obviously has tons of toys in all the toy boxes around his room and has even more out in the playroom. What can Tony say? He loves spoiling his baby and his nephews.

"Daddy, Dex." Dex is Bruce's stuffed dolphin. He found it when they went shopping the day after Christmas and instantly fell in love with it.

"Okay, baby. Dex missed you." Tony picked Bruce back up on his hip and handed him Dex the dolphin.

"Sowwy, Dex."

"It's okay, Brucie!" Tony said in a funny voice, moving Dex's head. "Thank you for coming back to me and your Daddy! We love you sooo much!" Tony moved Dex to kiss Bruce's cheek and make him giggle. Tony smiled. He loves that sound.

"Wuv you too." Bruce turned his head and kissed Daddy's cheek while he hugged Dex tightly.

"Love you, baby." Tony hugged Bruce tightly as he carried him to the elevator and back to the common floor.

"Brucie!" Steve and Clint both jumped up and ran to the baby, despite being really tired after being awake nearly 4 hours after their bedtime, and having ran around New York for hours today, looking for Bruce.

"I sowwy, Bwucie," Steve frowned. "Huggy?" Bruce looked at Steve, confused, but squirmed in his daddy's arms anyway until he was put down. Steve hugged his baby cousin tightly.

"Sowwy?"

"For made you runned away."

"Not Steve fault. Dweam."

"I sowwy anyway. No pwayed wif you."

"Otay." Bruce cuddled Steve for a few more seconds before hugging Clint and going back to Daddy.

"We can all play tomorrow, right?" Clint asked.

Before now, Steve wouldn't even play with Clint if he was playing with Bruce, which would make Clint really upset and confused about what to do because he wanted to play with _both_ his baby cousins and didn't wanna leave no one out.

"Pwease pway tomorrow?" Steve said. "I pway nice, pwomise."

"Otay," Bruce nodded. "After sleep 'N' yummies."

Steve and Clint both smiled, happy that the baby wants to play with them.

"You three can play tomorrow," Tony promised. "For now, Bruce needs to eat and you two need to go brush your teeth and go to bed. Thanks for making Bruce dinner, Phil. Now take the kiddos to bed. It's late."

"Night, Uncle Tony. Night, Brucie," Steve and Clint said in unison, giving out hugs and kisses before following their daddies up to the nursery.

"Sleepy," Bruce whispered.

"Eat some dinner first. At least half," Tony said. Bruce nodded and sleepily opened his mouth. Before long, Bruce was asleep on his daddy's lap. Tony decided to take him to sleep with him, just incase Bruce decided to try running away again; that way Tony could wake up and stop him.

\---

"You two always wanna play blocks. We got so many awesome toys between us for Christmas and we're still playing with blocks," Clint pouted.

"Block," Steve stated, showing Clint the block he was holding. Bruce hummed around the block in his mouth. "No, Bwucie; Unca Tony wikes ugly blocks." Bruce looked at Steve confused, but took the block out of his mouth and threw it on the pile of blocks before crawling over to where his daddy was doing work on his tablet.

Bruce sat between Tony's legs and tugged on his hands with his head on Daddy's knee. "Pway?"

"I can't right now, baby; I have to finish this or Pepper will beat me up. I'm sorry. I'll play with you later. Daddy promises. I'm sure Uncle Bucky will play with you kids, though."

"Otay," Bruce frowned. Daddy kissed his forehead, then he turned around and crawled to Bucky. "Pway?"

"Sure," Bucky smiled. He followed Bruce to the other boys and kissed Steve's cheek before sitting down. "What are we building?"

"No know, Daddy," Steve explained, resting his head against Daddy's chest.

"How about we have a contest?" Bucky suggested.

"A contest?" Clint wondered.

"Mhmm. With three different parts. We can each build something different with the blocks, then make a picture, and finally we can go outside and build something with the snow. Tony can judge for us after we finish everything."

"What will the winner get?"

"Um.... The winner can choose what we have for dinner and pick a movie to watch tonight."

"Okay!"

"Unca Tony havta go," Steve said.

"Why?" Bruce whimpered. He doesn't want Daddy to go! He wants to cuddle Daddy and play with him.

"Stevie's right," Clint said. "Uncle Tony can't see what we're making or else it won't be fair 'cause he'll just let you win, Brucie."

"But Dada...."

"I'm being kicked out, am I?" Tony teased, looking up from his tablet.

"No! Dada!" Bruce started crying and reached for his daddy.

Tony stood up and lifted his baby into his arms. "It's okay, baby. I'll just be down in my workshop. Uncle Bucky will be with you."

"Want Dada."

"You'll be okay. I'll finish working and be ready with some hot chocolate for you when you finish in the snow and we can cuddle and have hot cocoa."

"Otay, Dada," Bruce sniffled, cuddling into his daddy's chest.

"That's what you're like with your daddy," Clint whispered to Steve who stuck his tongue out at him in response.

"All three of you are little Daddy's boys," Bucky laughed, hugging Steve when he buried his face in his chest.

"Yeah, but we love it," Tony said.

"We do." Bucky smiled and kissed Steve's head.

Clint frowned, jealously. His daddy went to S.H.I.E.L.D. to work. He wants to cuddle him. "When will my daddy be home?"

"He'll be home in a few hours, Clint," Bucky promised. "I'm sure you could call him now, though to say hi."

"Can I?"

"Yeah! Here." Bucky dialed Phil's number and handed the phone to Clint.

"Daddy?" Clint asked.

"Hey, baby. What are you doing?" Phil asked.

"Nothin'. I miss you." 

"I miss you too, bug. Are you having fun with Steve and Bruce?"

"Yeah. We're gonna have a creativity contest with Uncle Bucky!"

"Oh yeah? That sounds fun. Be sure to tell Uncle Bucky to take pictures."

"Okay, Daddy. The winner gets to pick what we have for dinner and gets to pick a movie to watch tonight!"

"Wow! That's awesome. Do you think you're gonna win?"

"Of course I'm gonna win, Daddy!" Clint yelped when Steve pinched his thigh. He glared over at Steve. "Ouchie! Why did you do that?!"

"What happened?"

"Stevie pinched me."

"Why?"

"Dunno, Daddy."

"I gonna win," Steve pouted.

"He pinched me 'cause I said I'm gonna win." Clint frowned at the toddler.

"That wasn't nice, Steve," Bucky scolded. "Apologize and then you can go sit in timeout."

"Sowwy, Clinty," Steve sniffled.

"It's okay, baby," Clint said. He watched Bucky take Steve to the timeout corner where he would sit for two minutes.

"Hey, I have to go now, bug," Phil said. "I'm sorry. I love you, baby boy, I'll be home in about two hours, okay?"

"Okay, Daddy," Clint frowned. "I love you. Can we cuddle when you get home?"

"Of course baby. Be good and have fun."

"Okay. Bye, Daddy!" Clint handed the phone back to his uncle when his daddy hung up the phone. "Can Stevie come out now and we can start the contest?"

"He still has about a minute left. Why don't you get some paper and crayons set up at the table so we can do the drawing part of the contest there?" Bucky suggested.

"Okay, Uncle Bucky." Clint ran to the art table behind the couch and took out the paper and art supplies, leaving everything in the middle of the table.

"Hi, baby Brucie," Clint smiled, kissing the baby's head.

"Hmm." Bruce waved, sucking on his pacifier. Clint kissed the baby's cheek on his way to sit on the couch.

"Has it been a minute yet?"

"Yeah," Bucky said as the timer went off. "You can come out, Stevie."

Steve pouted as he came out of timeout. "Daddy?" He asked, holding his arms out for a hug.

"C'mere, babe." Steve dove into Bucky's arms for a quick hug before he was pushed away. "Is everyone ready to get started with our contest?" Steve and Clint both nodded, then suddenly everyone was looking at Bruce.

"Brucie? Ready to go play with your cousins and uncle?" Tony asked, gently shaking his baby.

"Otay," Bruce whispered.

"Alright. Good boy. I'm gonna hand you off to Uncle Bucky now." Tony handed Bruce to Bucky who easily shifted him onto his hip. "Bye, baby boy. Have fun. Daddy loves you."

"Love you, Daddy." Tony kissed Bruce's forehead and the latter squeezed the former's hand, sucking on his pacifier sadly when Tony finally stepped into the elevator. Bruce laid his head down on Bucky's shoulder, dramatically. He misses his daddy so much and he just left not even a full minute ago.

"Ready for the contest?" Bucky asked softly, bouncing Bruce. Bruce nodded and was placed on the floor near the pile of Legos Clint took out instead of blocks.

"Okay. Everyone will have, hmm, 10 minutes to build something with the Legos. And you two," Bucky pointed at Steve and Bruce. "Absolutely _no mouth_. You have your pacifiers for that. No blocks or Legos or any other toy–or body part–in the mouth." Steve went through a biting phase a few years ago. Bucky had a scar for a long time after Steve got mad and bit him when he got the super soldier serum. The scar is still faintly there.

"Okay. JARVIS, set a timer for 10 minutes and tell us when to go." A few seconds later, a smooth British voice was calling out 'go' and everyone was reaching for Legos.

 _"Stop,"_ JARVIS said as the timer rang 10 minutes later.

Everybody stopped and looked at what they made. It wasn't exactly clear what anyone made, but if you closed one eye and squinted it looked like Steve made...a dog? Maybe? Clint...well, knowing him, he was probably going for a dragon, but it looks more like Hulk with a really long tongue. Bruce was probably going for Iron Man (if all the red and yellow Legos say anything), but his creation looks kind of like a red meerkat with some kind of disease that turns half its fur yellow. Bucky...well, his creation looks like he was just putting a bunch of colors together. Which is actually what he did.

"Wow! Those are some awesome Lego sculptures, boys!" Bucky exclaimed. It's important to encourage children's creativity, even if you can't exactly tell what he or she is attempting to create.

Steve and Clint both smiled down at their creations while Bruce turned to Clint, hiding his face in his chest while he blushed. He blushes every time somebody compliments him. He's not used to it.

Bucky stood up first after cleaning the rest of the Legos and putting their creations in a line on the kitchen table. "Color now, Daddy?" Steve asked, holding his arms up towards Bucky to be picked up.

Bucky picked up Steve, placing him on his hip. Clint did the same with Bruce, smiling when the baby cuddled into him. "Yup. We're all going to draw whatever we want and make it really pretty."

"What if I don't wanna make my picture pretty?" Clint huffed.

"You make it whatever you want, then. This is a creativity contest; you're just supposed to create something however you want," Bucky explained as he settled Steve in at the arts and crafts table. Clint put Bruce in a seat before sitting down next to both of his cousins and across from his uncle.

"Uncle Bucky, I almost forgot my daddy wants you to take pictures of what we make!"

"Okay. We'll take pictures before Uncle Tony comes to judge everything."

"Aunt Tasha," Steve stated.

Bucky turned to the elevator, but didn't see her there. He turned back to Steve, confused. "What about her, baby?"

"She record us? Like on TV?" Steve's been watching Food Network a lot while he's big. And when he's little because Phil and Natasha watch that and yell at the people in the shows and bet on who's going to win. Steve promised not to tell anyone that Natasha always watches the shows ahead of time or looks online to see who wins so she wins the bets.

"That's a good idea!" Clint exclaimed. "She can't record the Legos part of the contest, though." Steve just shrugged and pulled the crayon away from Bruce when he went to move it into his mouth. He knows from experience that crayons don't taste very good.

"Do you want to see if she's available to come record us?" Bucky asked. Clint nodded.

"JARVIS, is Aunt Natasha here?"

 _"Yes, she is,"_ JARVIS answered. _"Would you like me to ask her if she can come down to the nursery and record you?"_

"Uh-huh, please." JARVIS didn't say anything for a few seconds, but then announced that Nat was on her way down.

"Hey, boys," Natasha greeted, making her way out of the elevator. "What are you doing?"

"We're having a contest, Auntie Nat!" Clint explained. "We need you to record us like on Food Network for Daddy to see us. Will you please record us?" He added the last part when his uncle poked his side gently.

"Of course I will! But first, I think somebody needs a new diaper." Natasha looked between the babies.

"Ew," Clint whined, covering his nose. Bruce whimpered.

"Let's go get both of you changed," Bucky suggested, standing up with Bruce on one hip and Steve's hand in one of his. "Clint, how about you go potty while I change these two?"

"Okay, Uncle Bucky. Aunt Natasha, we already did one part of the challenge, so you can just film those Lego sculptures on the table if you wanna while everyone is having bathroom breaks...."

"I _can_ , can I?" Natasha teased. "Okay, buddy. I'll do that while you go potty and Bucky changes your cousins."

Everyone went their own ways and met back at the art table after about 5 minutes. "Ready for the drawing part of the contest?" Bucky asked.

"Yah!" Steve and Clint exclaimed while Bruce just nodded.

"Okay. 15 minutes to draw whatever you want. Nat, you can just show the camera what everyone's doing; you don't have to ask what they're doing if you don't–"

"But then it wouldn't be like all the shows," Clint frowned.

"Yeah, Daddy. Uncle Phil will like if like shows."

"Okay, okay. We'll do this like one of those shows minus the first round."

"Yay!" Steve squealed. Bruce started clapping when Steve exclaimed like that. "Baby Bwucie like too."

"Yeah? Do you like those cooking shows your aunt and uncle watch, Brucie?" Bucky asked.

Bruce shook his head. "No. Icky."

"He no know what he sayin', Daddy. Bwucie baby."

"You're a baby too, Stevie," Clint said. "Brucie's right about those shows. They're boring."

"I'm on Steve's side," Natasha said, getting her phone ready to record them.

"Okay, we can argue about cooking shows later. Who's ready to draw?" Bucky kissed his baby's cheek before telling JARVIS to set the timer so they could begin drawing.

Bucky and Clint were the only ones who really told the camera what they were doing. Steve just said he was drawing in whatever color he was currently using and Bruce thought Natasha was taking his picture, so he smiled at the camera and said cheese until she pretended to put the camera away and move on to someone else.

15 minutes later, the timer went off and everyone put their crayons down (or had them forcibly taken in Bruce's case).

"Are we goin' to build in the snow now, Uncle Bucky?!" Clint exclaimed.

"Yup," Bucky answered. "We need our snow clothes first, though. Nat, I can get Steve and Bruce ready if you wanna help Clint."

"I can dress myself!" Clint told his aunt and uncle.

"I know you can, маленький ястреб **[little hawk]**. How about I just sit and keep Esther company while you change?" Natasha suggested.

"Okay. Esther will like that." Natasha followed Clint to his room while Bucky lifted Bruce onto one hip and Steve onto the other as he carried them both to Bruce's room.

10 minutes later the kids were bouncing around the elevator, excitedly. Even Bruce was squeezing Bucky's hand tighter than usual and smiling slightly.

They finally got outside and Clint drew a big square, dividing it into four smaller squares. "No stealing snow from someone else," he said. "Everyone stay in their square!"

"That's a good idea, Clint," Bucky said. "Steve, you can use all the snow over here, and Bruce can use the snow over there. Clint, you get your little square and I'll stay over here. Nat, will you set a timer for half an hour on my phone, please?"

Natasha took Bucky's phone and set the timer and started filming them again.

The snow sculptures were harder to interpret than the Lego sculptures, but everyone had fun in the snow and that's all that matters.

"Okay, let's go back inside and see if Uncle Tony is ready to judge us," Bucky said, noticing Bruce's nose is turning slightly red from the cold. Steve is even shivering. Clint pouted, but followed everyone inside.

"Daddy!" Bruce squealed, seeing Tony when they got back to the nursery. He squirmed out of Bucky's arms and ran to his daddy.

"Hey, baby," Tony smiled. "It looks like you had fun."

"Yah, Dada." Tony smiled bigger.

"Good. I'm glad you had fun. Do you want your hot chocolate now?" Bruce nodded. "Who else wants hot chocolate?"

"I do!" Steve and Clint exclaimed at the same time.

"Alright, let's go get it." Tony took Bruce's puffy winter jacket off as he walked into the kitchen.

"Uncle Tony, you have to judge us like one of the shows on Food Network for Daddy to watch," Clint explained, sitting at the table to wait for his drink.

"Oh yeah? Were you guys pretending to be on Chopped?"

"Aunt Tasha camera lady," Steve told him, nodding.

"If you were on Chopped, does that mean we get to eat something yummy?"

"Yeah, hot chocolate," Clint said. Tony stuck his tongue out and handed hot chocolate to everyone.

"Alright, what am I judging first?"

"Legos, then drawings, and we'll finish with the snow sculptures," Bucky told him. Tony nodded and waited for Natasha to get her phone ready again.

"Am I gonna figure out who made what?"

"After you pick a winner for each round," Clint answered. Tony nodded and took a deep breath as Natasha finally got her phone ready.

"These are some of the _best_ sculptures I have ever seen!" Tony exclaimed in an exaggerated manner, bouncing Bruce on his hip. "Look at this one right here." Tony pointed at Steve's dog(?). "Such a beautiful...uh...structure. And this," he moved onto Clint's dragon, "is a clear indicator of the magnificent creativity we have in this tower. This," Tony pointed at Bucky's creation, "...has a very lovely color scheme. However...I think the winner is the one who created this beauty." Tony held up Bruce's sculpture, making Bruce smile into his shoulder. "This one combined all the best things of the other sculptures into one. Who is the brilliant guy that created this?"

"Me, Dada!" Bruce giggled, throwing his hands up.

"Really?! Well, you did a _magnificent_ job! What was your inspiration for this beautiful sculpture?"

"Iron Man!"

" _Oh!_ I can see that! Well, it's beautiful and you did a great job. Congratulations for winning the first round, young man. Now do I get to know who made the others?"

"I made the dragon! He's breathin' fire!" Clint exclaimed.

"Puppy," Steve said, pointing at his puppy.

"And I made this...thing," Bucky said, holding up his creation.

"Well, they're all very beautiful. You all did a great job."

The kids smiled and Bucky and Tony smiled at how happy they looked.

"What do we have next?"

"Pictures, Daddy." Bruce said, excitedly. Winning a round made him happy and he wants to try to win more! Clint put the pictures on the table and sat next to Bucky and Steve to finish his sippy cup of hot chocolate.

"These pictures are amazing too! I don't know how I'll ever pick a winner. This is a very nice, um...." Tony looked from Bucky's drawing to Bucky who just shrugged and shook his head. He has no idea what he drew. He was watching the babies more than what he was drawing to make sure they didn't try to stick crayons anywhere. "Drawing." He moved onto Bruce's drawing next. "Beautiful scribbles here. And this is a nice creature that was drawn here." Tony picked up Clint's monster, then moved to Steve's drawing and gaped. "I think this one is the winner here. This is the most detailed drawing of a bunny I have ever seen. More colorful than a real one, but I swear I could reach through the paper and touch it. Who drew it?"

"I did, Unca Tony," Steve blushed, pushing his bottle away.

"We need to have a talk about your artistic abilities later. We need to get you in an art school or something, because that is a beautifully drawn bunny. Who drew the others?"

"I drew Herbert the Scary Monster," Clint explained.

"I think Herbert might give me nightmares. Beautifully drawn, Clint."

"Woof woof," Bruce explained, pointing at his scribbles.

"It's a very beautiful woof woof, baby." Tony kissed Bruce's cheek, making him smile and hide his face in his neck.

"What did you draw, Uncle Bucky?" Clint asked.

"I have no idea. I was doodling," Bucky admitted.

"They're very nice doodles, right, Uncle Tony?"

"Yeah. Nice doodles, Buck."

Steve leaned forward and kissed his daddy's doodles. "They must be good if our little artist thinks so," Bucky chuckled, pulling Steve back into his chest.

"Stevie, is Herbert good?" Clint asked.

"Yah. Pwetty," Steve told him. "Woof woof pwetty also, Brucie." Bruce hummed quietly into his daddy's neck.

"If we're going to go judge the snow creations, we're going to need to get our jackets and everything back on," Tony said.

"C'mere, Little Hawk," Natasha said. "Let's get you dressed back up." Clint went over to his aunt to let her help him get his jacket, hat, and mittens back on.

Bucky and Tony got their babies and themselves dressed, then they were all in the elevator.

"Down," Bruce demanded, squirming in Tony's arms.

"Wait 5 minutes and then you can get down and go play," Tony promised. Bruce huffed, but stopped squirming. Tony grunted as he adjusted Bruce on his hip.

"Okay, let's see. These are some pretty awesome snow sculptures, guys. I think the winner for this round is whoever made the bird over there." Tony pointed at Clint's bird, causing Clint to jump up, excitedly.

"Yay! My hawk wins!" Clint exclaimed.

Steve whined loudly into his daddy's neck while Natasha put her phone away. "What'sa matter, baby boy?" Bucky frowned, bouncing him.

"It's a tie," Steve pouted.

"You're right," Tony said. "So what are we gonna do about the prize?"

"Um...we can all pick somethin' for three days," Clint suggested.

"Something like what?"

"Dinner, movie, game."

"That sounds good."

"Can I pick the game, Uncle Tony? Can I, can I, can I?!"

"Sure, Clinty. What game are we gonna play tonight?"

"Charades!"

"Okay. I'm not sure how Bruce and Steve will be with that, but we'll try with them."

"Okay."

"Watch Lions pwease," Bruce said.

"Alright, baby boy," Tony said, squeezing his baby. "Steve, do you wanna pick what we have for dinner?"

"Yah," Steve smiled. "Us all make dinner togethers?"

"That sounds good. What are we gonna make?"

"Yummies."

"Okay, we'll make yummies. We'll decide what to make later."

"Yay. Pway now? Snow?"

"Alright," Bucky said. He and Tony put the babies down and they started running around with Clint in the snow.

"Snowball fight!" Clint called, scooping a snowball into his hands and throwing it at Natasha.

"You little brat!" Natasha laughed. She made a snowball and threw it at Clint while Steve threw one at Tony. They eventually all got into a snowball fight.

They had been playing for close to an hour when Steve got smacked in the face with a snowball. Steve stopped where he was standing, reminded of how cold he was when the plane crashed. He started shaking and hyperventilating with tears running down his face.

"Stevie? Baby?" Bucky asked, worriedly when he noticed his baby.

"What's wrong, Uncle Bucky?" Clint frowned. Everyone stopped and turned to Steve and Bucky.

"He's having a panic attack," Tony explained. "That snowball to the face and the cold probably reminded him of being back on the plane. Get him inside and warm. Calm him down. Come on, I think we should all go back inside now anyway."

"C'mere, baby boy," Bucky said. Steve threw himself into Bucky's arms and started sobbing as he was lifted up. "Daddy's here. Look, we're going back inside, into the tower. No planes. You're safe, baby boy." Steve continued crying, but he was hyperventilating less. Bucky brought Steve into the bathroom in the nursery and took his wet, snowy clothes off, placing them in the bathtub. "It's okay, Stevie. Daddy's right here. Uncle Tony, Aunt Natasha, and your cousins are all here with us in the tower. JARVIS, could you by any chance make it a bit warmer in Steve's room?"

There was no reply from the AI, but it was noticeably warmer when Bucky carried his baby in there after removing his own wet clothes.

"Daddy's here. Here, let's wrap you up in a nice warm blankie. Bear is here too. Bear says he loves you and wants to to calm down."

Steve finally started to calm down. He was breathing a bit heavier than normal, like when he used to have asthma and couldn't get enough air into his lungs, and he was crying a tiny bit and sniffling, but he was calming down.

"Daddy's here, baby, with you in the tower. You're okay. I love you."

"Dada," Steve sniffled.

"That was scary, wasn't it? It was scary for me too. But you're okay now. We both are. We're safe here."

"No wike cold," Steve whispered.

"I know, babe. How 'bout we get some pajamas on you? Wanna pick 'em out?"

"No. Dada do."

"Alright. Daddy will pick." Bucky kissed Steve's forehead before placing him on the changing table and going to the dresser. He pulled out a dark blue footed sleeper with a hood on it. Bucky changed his baby's diaper and got him dressed. "How about a nap now after all that excitement?"

"Baba?"

"Of course, baby. Why don't you lay down while I go–"

"No!" Steve immediately started sobbing again and clinging to Bucky like a koala.

"Shh, shh, okay, you can come with me! No more tears, baby boy. It makes Daddy so sad when you're sad."

"Sowwy," Steve whispered, still clinging to his Daddy.

"It's okay, baby. Let's go get a bottle. Wanna go up to Daddy's room for your nap and cuddle in my bed?" Steve nodded into Bucky's neck.

"Bear 'N' Bunny."

"Alright, here ya go." Normally, Bucky wouldn't be doing any of this, and he definitely wouldn't give Steve anything without him saying 'please,' but he figures that was really scary for his poor boy, and it even caused him to regress to a bit younger than normal, so he had no problem handing over his stuffed animals.

Steve hummed quietly, hugging Bear and Bunny while Bucky wrapped him back up in the blanket and grabbed their bed/nap time book.

"I'm sorry, Stevie!" Clint frowned when Bucky took Steve to get a bottle. "I didn't mean to hit you in the face with the snowball. I'm really sorry."

"Otay. Kissy?" Clint leaned up and they exchanged kisses. "Better. Sleepy."

"Are you gonna take a nap?" Steve nodded, bringing Bunny's paw into his mouth. His daddy forgot to clip his pacifier to his shirt. Silly Daddy. "Okay. Have a nice nap, Stevie."

Steve blew another kiss to his big cousin before cuddling into his daddy's chest to wait for his bottle.

"My little koala," Bucky whispered, squeezing Steve tightly and kissing his cheek. "I love you."

"Love Dada."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My phone wouldn't let me add the picture on here, but there's a picture of Herbert on my tumblr (azbear1.tumblr.com)  
> Also I used google translate for the Russian in here so idk if it's actually right or not. If you know Russian let me know


	8. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: spanking about a third (?) of the way through
> 
> I don't really like the way this (or the next chapter actually) went tbh but I really hate rewriting things so we'll all have to get through these next few chapters together and pray that I get out of this mood I've been in lately and can actually write good   
> Good luck with the headache you'll probably get reading this

"Hey, Buck? Can I talk to you?" Phil asked, sitting next to Bucky on the couch.

"Yeah, of course." Bucky adjusted his sleeping baby to a more comfortable position in his arms.

"It's about Steve."

"What about him?" Bucky frowned, pulling Steve closer to his chest, protectively.

"Well...after he came to live with me and Clint, we both noticed he seemed a bit depressed, but at the time we didn't worry too much, because we thought it was just waking up 70 years in the future without any of his friends or his daddy. He seems a bit better now, but he still seems kinda depressed and I'm worried. And he's definitely got PTSD. No doubt about that. I just thought I should let you know."

"Thank you for letting me know. Stevie and I are both going to get our checkups and hopefully get cleared to be out in the field soon. We both have to talk to a therapist then, so we'll see what his therapist says then. I'll be sure to keep a close eye on him, though." Bucky still hasn't gotten a chance to talk to Steve about his eating habits, but he's definitely noticed him not eating as much as he should. He's starting to get really worried.

The adults both looked down at the toddler wiggling around in his sleep.

\---

"Hey, Nick," Clint greeted when he saw the elevator door open and Nick Fury walked out.

"Hello, Sir," Steve said from where he was laying down with his head against Bucky's thigh like a pillow. He sat up to talk to Fury.

"Hello, Agent Barton. Hello, Captain. I assume Barnes told you about you two going to S.H.I.E.L.D. today for your physical and mental evaluations." Steve looked over at Bucky, frowning.

"No, sir, he didn't."

"Yes I did," Bucky corrected. "You were just ignoring me when I told you because you were watching Cupcake Wars." Steve stuck his tongue out.

"Uh, I'll go dressed. I'll be fast."

"Meet me downstairs. I'll take you both to S.H.I.E.L.D. I doubt either of you got your license."

"I did, but mine is very expired," Bucky shrugged, standing up to go to his own floor and change. "We'll meet ya downstairs, sir." Fury nodded and retreated into the elevator. "C'mon, Stevie. Let's go get changed. We'll see ya later, Clint."

"See you guys. Good luck," Clint said, grabbing the remote to put something on besides stupid food shows. He doesn't know how people can watch these all the time. He gets so hungry watching 5 minutes of one of these shows.

"Think we'll be good to go back in the field?" Steve asked in the elevator.

"Yeah. I'm sure we will," Bucky smiled at his friend. "Hey, Stevie? Could you stay in your room when you finish getting dressed for a minute? I wanna talk to you about somethin'."

"Okay, Buck. What about?"

"I'll be in your room in a few minutes and we can talk then."

"Alright, Bucky." The elevator stopped and Steve stepped out, unlocking the door to his floor. By the time he finished choosing his clothes, Bucky was knocking on the door. "Come in."

Bucky walked into Steve's bedroom wearing sweatpants and navy blue t-shirt that said 'whatever' across the chest in white. He was carrying a black sweatshirt and sneakers.

"You're wearing that?" Steve asked.

"Yeah. What's wrong with it? This is what a lot of people wear nowadays."

"You're right. There's nothing wrong with it. It's just harder for me to accept things when I'm an adult. It's easier to not care when I'm little." Steve frowned at his own choice of clothes he had laid out on his bed: tan pants, a flannel shirt, and a nice coat. There's nothing wrong with that, but it's much different than what Bucky's wearing. If he thinks about it, it's a lot different than what Clint or Tony or anyone else wears too.

"Just get dressed, Stevie. I'm not a fashion expert. Talk to Tony about fashion; he knows more than I do at least."

"Okay. What did you want to talk about?"

Bucky turned around while Steve got changed even though he just took a bath with him less than 24 hours ago. Steve deserves to have his privacy. "I'm worried about you. Phil told me he thinks you're depressed, and I've noticed you're really withdrawn getting back into things after being alone and you just don't seem as happy as you used to be."

"I woke up 70 years in the future, Buck. You were gone, all my friends are gone, and I don't understand anything about this time. Did you really expect me to be running through a flower field on a unicorn, happy as could be? You can turn around, by the way."

Bucky turned to see Steve buttoning his pants, but without a shirt on. He still looks fantastic, but Bucky's pretty sure he's lost some muscle that he had before the crash, and he's definitely lost weight. "I know I can't expect you to be super happy like you said, but I also didn't expect you to be depressed like you are. When you talk to the therapist today, make sure you're honest and talk to him or her about this, okay? Please?"

"Okay. Is that it?"

"You haven't been eating enough. I know you can eat more. I've seen you do it. You're losing weight, Steve, and that's not good; I heard about when you ended up in the hospital. You're taking longer to heal than you should, because you're not eating and exercising right. You're going to get sick. Why don't you eat enough anymore?"

"It's enough for me. I get full," Steve shrugged.

"You ate more than this before the serum."

"Because I didn't get enough and I would eat as much as I possibly could and I got sick from it a lot. I still did that after the serum, but my stomach could hold more food."

"Okay. But you barely eat anything. You can't _possibly_ be full after one sandwich and a handful of potato chips. I understand that you eventually get full, but not after so little to eat."

"Okay. Maybe I don't eat as much as I could. But I'll be fine."

"No, you won't be. I already told you, you're taking longer than you should to heal. You'll start getting sick."

"Bucky–"

"Hey. I have an idea. Will you listen to it?" Steve sighed, but nodded. "Even if one of us or both of us isn't cleared after today, we can still do this. How about, a few times a week, we go train and workout together? There's a nice gym here and a bunch of stuff to do in there. And we can have a lunch or dinner date on those days with just us."

"Okay. That sounds nice," Steve smiled.

"Alright." Steve will hopefully start eating more if he starts exercising. And maybe he'll even put on muscle mass and gain weight back that way. "We'll start planning for that when we get back, alright?"

"Kay."

"C'mere, punk." Bucky held out his arms and Steve walked into his best friend's arms for a hug. "I care about you, Steve. You're my friend and I love you."

"Love you too, jerk."

"You're gonna talk to the therapist and doctor about the depression and eating, right

"Yeah. I promise."

"Alright, Stevie. Let's go see about us getting back in the field."

\---

Steve stomped off the elevator, kicking down Bruce's block tower as he passed him and making the baby cry.

"Hey!" Big Clint yelled, getting onto the floor to comfort Bruce. "What crawled up your ass and died? Bruce, don't repeat that word, Steve, if you're little, don't repeat it either, but seriously? What's you're problem?"

Steve ignored Clint and plopped down in the arm chair and crossed his arms.

"He's mad that he's not cleared to go out," Bucky explained, sighing.

"It's not fair!" Steve interrupted. "I'm fine! I know everyone thinks I'm depressed, but I'm not! You can't expect me to be happy after everything I've been through, but I'm not depressed either. And I'm not gonna self harm or attempt suicide or whatever that stupid bitch at S.H.I.E.L.D. said! I just wanna help the fucking world again!"

"Steven Grant Rogers," Bucky said in a firm tone. "I don't care how old you are, you know you don't use that language. Especially not when Bruce is obviously little. You _are_ depressed, you just don't want to accept it. The therapist told me that you wouldn't accept it. She didn't need to; I _know_ you're stubborn–"

"I'm not stubborn!"

"Steven, I am talking. Your ma and I raised you better than to interrupt someone when they're talking. Or to use that language, for that matter."

Steve huffed and glared at everyone who was still in the room with them. Bruce whimpered into Clint's chest.

"You should calm down and stop yelling at Bucky. I haven't known him long, but I know he won't be afraid to take you over his knee no matter your age, if you keep that up," Clint warned, standing with Bruce in his arms. He followed Natasha to the elevator, but stopped before stepping inside and turned back to Steve. "There's nothing wrong with being depressed, by the way. I am. I take meds for it and talk to a therapist, though." Clint shrugged and finally stepped into the elevator with a sniffling baby in his arms.

"'M not depressed," Steve mumbled.

"Hmm," Bucky huffed. "Whatever. Don't accept it. But you're going to see a therapist, anyway. If you don't," he added when Steve started whining. "If you don't, you'll never be able to go 'help the fucking world again,' as you said before."

"I'm not going to talk to that bitch again." Bucky stared down at Steve for a minute, before shaking his head. He's tired of the cursing and complaining. He expected Steve to be upset, but not to this degree.

"Get up. Now. Bend over."

"Bucky...."

"Should I go find a wooden spoon?"

"No!" Steve quickly shook his head and bent over the back of the couch. Bucky took his place beside him and started the spanking, scolding as he spanked: "I don't care how mad you are, don't curse like that ever again! Nobody is trying to be mean to you, Stevie; we're trying to keep you safe. I never want to see behavior like that again while you're big or little. Got it?"

"Yes, Bucky," Steve sniffled. "I'm sorry."

"If you don't want that therapist you talked to today, we'll get you a new one. There's no reason to make a fuss over not getting cleared and being told you're depressed by cursing and doing everything you did today."

"Sorry. I won't do it again. I just don't wanna–"

"I know. Stevie, I know you don't want to depressed and you want to help. Before you can do that, _you_ need help first. You're the most important."

"I'm not," Steve whispered.

"Not what?"

"Important."

Bucky frowned and hugged Steve tighter. "You're the most important to me. And we're gonna take care of you and get you help. You can try again in a few months."

"Okay, Buck...." Steve rested his head on his friend's shoulder. "Can I go apologize to Brucie and Clint?"

"Yeah, I think that's a good idea. C'mon, punk." The two finally pulled apart from the hug, only to hold hands instead. Steve rubbed his butt, wincing at the pain. "Did I go too far?" Bucky worried. He only gave him 20 swats (he never gets more than 40 when he's big), but it's been a while since Steve was spanked, even before the plane; that might have been too much after such a long time.

"No. I deserved that for my behavior. I'm sorry."

"It's okay now, Stevie. Let's go apologize to your cousins and take a nap."

"Sounds good," Steve yawned. They stepped out of the elevator when it got to the nursery.

Bruce looked up and pulled his Lego tower closer to him, trying to defend it against his meanie cousin. Clint just looked at Bucky and Steve. He knows what happened. He kind of has an eavesdropping problem and JARVIS just makes doing that so much easier. Steve hasn't gotten a _real_ spanking since before he woke up. He's only gotten like 3 swats at a time as far as Clint knows.

"Bruce?" Steve whispered, crouching in front of the baby. "Can you look at me?" Bruce pouted as he looked up at him. "I'm sorry, Brucie. I was in an icky mood when I came home. I didn't mean to ruin your tower or scare you and Clinty."

"No mean?" Bruce whispered.

"Well, I can't make any promises, but I'll do my best to not be mean anymore. I'm really sorry."

Bruce hummed and dove into Steve's arms for a hug. Steve wrapped his arms around him tightly, and looked up at Clint with sad, innocent eyes to apologize.

"You just got your A-S-S whooped," Clint pointed out. "You know you were behaving badly now and you apologized. I forgive you."

Steve smiled slightly and adjusted Bruce in one arm, holding the other one out for Clint to join the hug. Once he did, the three of them just sat on the floor together for a long time. Bruce even fell asleep and Steve nearly did, but was finally pulled away by Bucky to go to his floor.

"Bucky?" Steve whispered before falling asleep in the sweats and t-shirt Bucky gave him to change into.

"Yeah?" Bucky pulled Steve closer to him.

"Do you really think I'm depressed?"

Bucky inwardly groaned, not wanting to get into this again. "Yes, Stevie, I do. Phil and Clint and that therapist at S.H.I.E.L.D. do too."

"And the food thing is really that big a deal...?"

"Yes, it is."

"Okay. I'll try to eat more, but don't get mad if I still don't eat much for a while. Especially when I'm little. And I'll see a therapist, but not the one from today. She was mean. I get why she asked what she did, but she didn't have to be mean about it...."

"Okay. I won't get mad about you not eating a lot, as long as you try to eat more. I don't think you'd have had that therapist, anyway. She was just trying to see if you're mentally and psychologically healthy. She didn't know you're so sensitive."

"Shut up. Jerk," Steve stuck his tongue out at Bucky and cuddled into him further.

"Go to sleep, punk. I'll be here for you when you wake up." Bucky rubbed his thumb in circles against Steve's cheek as they fell asleep together.

\---

"Steve, you in here?" Bucky called, sticking his head into the kitchen.

"I'm here," Steve answered.

"Where?" Bucky stepped fully inside and Steve popped up from behind the kitchen island, holding a mixing bowl in one hand.

"Do you need me for something?" Steve asked.

"No, I just wanted to know where you were."

"You coulda asked JARVIS. He's not allowed to listen to me about asking to be left alone."

"I wonder why," Bucky teased, coming around to poke Steve's side. "You get into trouble when you're left alone."

Steve stuck his tongue out. "Is everyone up?"

"Barely. Clint is clinging to Phil. Bruce is hiding his face in a book. Tony's probably gonna trip over his own two feet, stumbling in here to get coffee while he's on his tablet. Nat and I are the only ones, besides you, who are actually awake." Bucky looked back at everyone in the living room. "Never mind. You and me."

"I'm not asleep, I'm resting my eyes," Natasha called.

"Okay, well, how many pancakes does everyone want and what kind?" Steve asked, joining Bucky outside the kitchen. "We have plain, chocolate chip, and blueberry."

Everyone started giving him their orders all at once and Steve stared at them with wide eyes.

"I'm just gonna make 10 of everything." Steve slipped back into the kitchen to ladle pancakes onto the pan.

"How many pancakes are you gonna eat, Stevie?" Bucky asked.

"Probably two. I just finished a banana before you came in, though."

"That's good." Steve nodded and hummed. "Do you wanna go down to the gym with me later today?"

"I don't know.... What's the point if I'm not allowed to go out?"

"The point is just to go down there and spend time together and have fun training. Even if you can't go out now, you'll be able to again one day and you'll have to start training again, anyway."

"Okay. Sure, I'll go with you."

"Great!" Bucky smiled and squeezed Steve's shoulder. "It'll be fun."

"I'm sure it will, Buck." Steve rested his head against Bucky's hand until it was time to flip the pancakes.

\---

"Daddy, I wanna go with Steve and Uncle Bucky," Clint whined when he learned about them going to the gym.

"No," Phil told him. "They're going there to have time alone with one another."

"You can come with us another day," Steve promised. "I don't know if being down there when we're little is a good idea, anyway."

"It's fine down there," Tony said. "I made sure every room is safe for littles. Well, that's a lie, but any room that's not safe, JARVIS won't even let the elevator stop on that floor if someone is little in it. My lab is the only exception and only if I'm in there and tell him it's okay."

Steve glared up at Tony. _Not helping_ , he told him with his eyes. "Clinty, I know you wanna come with us, but Bucky and I aren't really going to be playing. We're training for when we're allowed to go out in the world again. We wanna be by ourselves for a while. It's been a long time since we've seen each other, and I wanna spend time with him while I'm big."

"Okay," Clint pouted. "Can we play later? Daddy has to work and Brucie is too small to understand more than playing blocks, and it's _boring_."

"Okay. I'm not much bigger than him, though. Bruce is one and I'm only two."

"That's okay. You like to play with toys other than blocks. Bear and Bunny and Esther can go on an adventure later! It'll be fun."

"It sounds like it."

"I'll even let Bunny ride in my truck. Bear is too big."

"I'm sure Bear won't be _too_ disappointed, but I know Bunny will enjoy that. Maybe if Bruce comes down and is little, you two can build some houses or something for the adventure later."

"A castle!"

"That's a great idea, Clinty! I'm gonna go train, then go out for lunch with Uncle Bucky," Steve cringed slightly. It's weird to call him _uncle_. He's not his uncle, he's his daddy! Er...best friend. "We'll be back in a couple hours. Have fun with Aunt Tasha and maybe Brucie."

"Okay, Stevie. Bye-bye. Bye, Uncle Bucky! Have fun!" Clint hugged his cousin tightly, then ran to Natasha, trying to convince her to go see what Bruce is doing. Steve followed Bucky into the elevator and down to the gym.

Steve's eyes widened when he stepped into the gym. It's huge! And there's so much training equipment! "Wow...."

"Let's go race to the mats over there so we can stretch first," Bucky suggested.

"Okay. Ready...set–"

Bucky started running. "Go!"

"Hey!" Steve laughed and ran after his best friend. Steve tackled Bucky when he caught up to him and started tickling him.

"Hey yourself!" Bucky giggled, weakly pushing Steve's hands away. "Quit it, punk!" Bucky flipped them over and took over the tickling, making Steve burst into laughter.

"Stop it, Jerk! Please!"

"Who's your best friend?"

"Y-you are! You're my best friend, jerk! Now please stop!"

"Alright. Alright, Stevie." Bucky finally stopped tickling him and sat back, smiling at his giggling best friend. He loves seeing him laugh, and if tickling him is the best way to do it, then so be it.

"L-let's start training now, so we can go out for lunch. Tony told me about a really good place around here."

"Let's." Bucky smiled as he stood up and helped Steve up. He's surprised, but happy that Steve is actually looking forward to food. He even ate two and a _half_ pancakes today after the banana!

\---

Steve woke up from a nightmare in his crib after lunch all alone. He whined and called for his daddy, but after waiting for 5 minutes without him coming, he gave up and climbed out of the crib. Steve waddled out of his room to see Phil playing with Clint.

"Unca Phiw?" Steve sniffled.

"Steve, what are you doing, buddy?" Phil asked.

"Where Daddy?"

"He went to talk to Director Fury about something. He should be home in a little bit. Why don't you come play with me and Clint?"

"Yeah!" Clint smiled, inviting his cousin to play. "We're makin' obs-obstr-ob...."

"Obstacle," Phil corrected.

"Courses for Esther to go through on my truck!"

Steve plopped on his butt on the floor and started crying. "No! I wan' Daddy!"

"Hey, come here, buddy," Phil whispered, hugging Steve. "It's okay. Daddy just went out for a little while. He'll be back real real soon."

"No! Want Daddy now!"

Just then, Bruce woke up and started sobbing. Phil sighed and gently pushed Steve into Clint's arms. "Can you try to comfort your cousin while I go get the baby?" He asked. Clint nodded and hugged Steve tightly.

"It's okay, baby Stevie. Your daddy will be home soon. JARVIS, when did Uncle Bucky leave?"

 _"Bucky left approximately 47 minutes ago,"_ JARVIS answered.

"And he said he'll be home in an hour or an hour and a half. It's already almost an hour. He's gonna be home really soon, Stevie. My daddy will change you when he comes back, then you can play with us or watch TV or somethin', okay?"

"Otay," Steve sniffled. "Dada home soon?"

"Really soon. I promise. Maybe Daddy will let you try to call your daddy after you get a diaper."

"Otay." Clint used his shirt sleeves to wipe Steve's tears away before kissing his forehead.

"Good baby."

"Not a baby...."

"You're my baby cousin." Steve huffed and stuck his thumb in his mouth, resting his forehead against Clint's shoulder.

"What are you two doing?" Phil asked, coming out of Bruce's room with the baby on his hip.

"Baby Stevie needs a diaper and to call Uncle Bucky," Clint explained.

"Alright. Clint, try to _nicely_ wake Bruce up. Steve and I will be right back." Phil placed Bruce down on the floor, then grabbed Steve's hand and led him to his room.

"Unca Phiw, I call Daddy?" Steve sniffled once he had laid on the changing table.

"Yeah, buddy. After I finish changing you, okay?" Steve hummed and nodded. "Where's your pacifier, bud? Hmm? Your thumb is dirty and icky."

"No know. Bear?"

"You want your bear?"

"Yah. Pwease."

"Okay, Steve. Why don't you go ask Clint to help you with your pants while I call Daddy for you and get your bear real quick?"

"Otay." Steve took the pants from his uncle, hiding them under the couch when he got back into the playroom.

"Steve, are you gonna come play with us now?" Clint asked.

"Affer Daddy."

"Okay, Stevie. Me and Bruce will wait for you to do the obstercle courses!" Bruce stood on his knees to reach for a soft block holding up one of the obstacle courses, but got his hand slapped away. "No, no, Brucie!" Bruce fell back on his butt and started sobbing.

"Bad Cwinty," Steve frowned, scooting forward on his butt to comfort his baby cousin. "It otay, Bwucie." Steve kissed the baby's hand, reducing the sobs to sniffles and whimpers.

"What happened in here?" Phil asked when he returned to the playroom.

"Cwinty hurt baby." Phil frowned.

"Here, Steve; talk to Daddy while I talk to your cousins." Steve nodded, excitedly and reached for the phone.

"Daddy?!"

"Hey, baby," Bucky greeted. "What are you doin'?"

"Missin' you, Dada. Wanted cuddles wif Daddy."

"I miss you too, baby. We can cuddle when I get home, I promise. I'm on my way home now. How was your nap, baby?"

"Bad. Icky dweam, Dada."

"Aww, my poor baby! Well, I'll be home in about half an hour, then we can cuddle on my bed with some hot chocolate and talk about your dream or whatever you want, okay? Sound good, baby boy?"

"Yah, Daddy."

"Okay, babe. I gotta go so I can tell the driver how to get home. I love you."

"Love you, Daddy."

"Be good for Uncle Phil. I'll see you in a little bit."

"Otay. Bye, Daddy." Steve handed the phone back to his uncle after he heard it hang up. Steve looked around for his older cousin so they could play until Daddy gets home. He saw Clint sitting in a corner with his arms crossed. "Cwinty pway?" He asked.

"Clint is in timeout for hitting Bruce. He only has two more minutes, then he can play with you," Phil explained.

Steve gave Clint a sympathetic look before climbing onto the couch to cuddle his uncle and baby cousin.

"Baby otay?" Steve asked, placing his hand on Bruce's cheek. Bruce cooed and made grabby hands for Steve.

"Bruce is okay," Phil confirmed. "Do you want to hold him?"

Steve thought back to his nightmare and whimpered, pulling his hand away from Bruce. "No, Unca Phiw. Bear?"

"Bear is next to the couch on the floor."

Steve slipped off of the couch and crawled to the side, finding his stuffed bear. He pulled it into a hug and buried his face in the fur.

"Steeb?" Bruce pouted. "What wrong?"

"Bad dweam. No baby hugs. Pway?"

"You can play while I go get Clint from timeout," Phil said. Steve hummed and leaned against the couch with Bear.

"Daddy?" Clint whimpered when Phil went over to the corner.

"Your 5 minutes are over now, Clinty. Do you know why you were in timeout?" Phil asked.

"I hit the baby and made 'im cry. I'm sorry, Brucie. I shouldn'ta done that."

"Cwint!" Bruce reached for his cousin, obviously having forgiven him. Clint looked up at Phil to ask if he could leave the corner now. Phil nodded, so Clint ran to Bruce and hugged him.

"'M sorry."

"Cwint." Bruce cuddled into Clint's chest.

Steve watched them for a few minutes, jealously. He would normally just go right over and join their cuddle session, but he knows he can't because of his dream. "Pway?" He asked finally.

"Yeah! Do you wanna try to drive my truck through one of the courses?" Clint offered.

Steve's eyes widened. He never gets to drive Clint's truck! Clint doesn't want him to break it, so he doesn't let him drive it. "Weally?"

"Mhmm. Wanna try? You can try an easy one."

"Otay!" Clint got his truck and handed the remote to Steve after teaching him how to work it and reminding him to be _very_ careful.

"Cwint?" Bruce pouted. "Me twy?"

"I don't know.... You're really little, Brucie." Bruce's bottom lip started trembling. "Okay. I'll make you a special course to try after these, but you gotta be super duper careful, okay?"

"Yay!" Bruce smiled and clapped.

There was a crash as Steve knocked over the blocks halfway through the obstacle course. He sniffed and started crying. He ruined his cousin's obstacle course and it fell on his truck and probably broke it! Clinty's gonna be so mad at him!

Bruce whimpered and crawled over to Steve to hug him. "No!" Steve pushed Bruce away from him way harder than necessary, causing Bruce to slide across the floor a couple of feet and destroy the other obstacle courses. Bruce immediately bursted into sobs and made Steve cry more. "I sowwy!"

Clint moved to comfort Bruce (even though he was upset too and wanted Daddy to give him hugs and kisses) while Phil moved towards Steve. Steve got scared, thinking about all the trouble he's in for hurting the baby and ruining Clint's obstacle courses, so he stood up and ran to his room, slamming the door shut and sitting in front of it to prevent anyone from opening it. None of the doors on this floor have locks.

Phil sighed, not at all happy about having a door slammed in his face. Phil needs a nap. "Steve, buddy, can you open the door? I'm not gonna hurt you."

"No."

"Please?"

"No!"

Phil sighed and decided to let Bucky take care of Steve. If Steve was in any danger in there, JARVIS would tell him. He has two other littles to take care of, one of whom is currently in hysterics, and the other of whom doesn't look very far off.

"Come here, Bruce," Phil whispered, lifting the baby into his arms. "Clint, come with us to get some bottles." Clint stood up and held onto his daddy's elbow while they walked to the kitchen.

"Daddy, c'n I have a cup, please?"

"Of course, baby. Do you think you could get the milk out of the fridge and whatever you want to drink?" Clint quickly nodded. Phil took two bottles and a dinosaur sippy cup from the cabinet and placed Bruce on the counter. He quickly poured milk into all of the containers (and a bit of chocolate syrup in the cup) and slipped one of the bottles into Bruce's mouth, pulling him back onto his hip.

"Daddy, when will Uncle Bucky be home to take care of Stevie?" Clint frowned, taking his cup and following Phil to Steve's room. Phil answered that Bucky should be back in a few minutes.

"Steve?" Phil knocked on the door.

"No."

"You have a bottle of milk on the floor outside your door if you want it. Your daddy will be home soon to talk to you."

Steve whimpered to himself, curling into a tighter ball. Daddy's gonna be mad at him too. He'll probably get spanked for being so bad today.

Phil sighed and carried Bruce to the couch, sitting with him on his lap. Clint sat next to them and cuddled them while he drank his chocolate milk. "Daddy?"

"Yeah, bug?"

"Nothin'. Lots happened in a few minutes. 'S overwhe-uh?"

"Overwhelming? Yeah. You're right, Clint. But Bucky will be home in a few minutes to take care of Steve, and Tony is gonna be done soon and will come take Bruce, then we can talk or cuddle, alright?"

"Okay, Daddy. When do I see Cassie again?" Cassie is the name of Clint's therapist. It took him a while to warm up to her, but he's been seeing her for years now and looks forward to their visits.

"You have an appointment with her later today, babe. Would you rather not talk with me about today and just talk to her?"

"Both?"

"Okay. Let's wait for Uncle Tony to take Bruce, though, so we can have some privacy."

"Okay, Daddy." Clint kissed Bruce's cheek before cuddling back into his daddy's side and finishing his chocolate milk.

About 10 minutes later, Bucky stepped off the elevator. "Where's Steve?" He wondered when he didn't see him. "I hope you didn't let him go back to sleep after I talked to him on the phone. He'll be a pain in the butt to get to sleep tonight." He walked over and kissed both his nephews' foreheads before turning his attention back to Phil.

"No. We had a little incident today. Which turned into a bigger incident," Phil sighed.

"What happened?"

"Clint and I were building obstacles courses for his truck and Bruce wanted a block, but got his hand slapped away. He started crying, Clint went to timeout, everything's okay between them. Clint told Steve he could drive his truck through one of the obstacle courses, but Steve knocked it down and started crying for some reason. Bruce went to comfort him, but Steve pushed him away and made him fall through the other obstacle courses. Steve is in his room now. He won't let me in. I didn't know what to do about him, and I had these two to take care of, so I left him in his room. I figured JARVIS'd say something if anything happened to Steve."

"Okay. You've had a hard day, haven't you, Bruce? Poor baby." Bucky gave Bruce another kiss and grabbed Bear before going to Steve's room and knocking on the door. "Stevie? It's Daddy, baby. Can you let me in, please?"

"No."

"Please? I missed you. I just wanna cuddle my baby."

"Mad?"

Bucky face contorted into a look of confusion, but answered, "No, baby, I'm not mad. Please let me in." The door opened, but Steve couldn't be seen. Bucky grabbed the bottle off the floor and quickly stepped into the room, sighing in relief when he saw Steve hiding behind the door, looking up, clearly terrified. "Hey, baby. What are you doing all alone in here?"

"Mad."

Bucky closed the door and crouched on the floor in front of Steve, giving him Bear "Who are you mad at, baby boy?"

"No one."

"Who's mad, then?"

"Unca Phil, Clinty, and Brucie."

"Why d'ya think that, baby?"

"I'm bad."

Bucky frowned. "Who said you're bad? I'll beat them up."

"I say."

"Should I beat you up for saying my baby is bad, then? Hmm?" Bucky teased, poking Steve's sides and tickling lightly. He managed to get a couple little giggles out of Steve, but nothing more. Bucky pulled his baby into his lap and hugged him tightly. "You're not bad, baby. Can you tell me why you think you are?"

"I breaked Clinty's lobster and hurt Brucie," Steve explained, sniffling. Bucky is glad Phil told him what happened ahead of time, because otherwise, he would have no idea that _lobster_ is 2-year old for _obstacle course_.

"Oh, it's okay, baby boy. Clint is just upset about his obstacle courses. Bruce got a bit of a booboo, but I think he was mostly crying because he was scared from falling. And I don't think Uncle Phil is mad at you. He's worried about you, but confused and he didn't know what to do because you wouldn't let him in your room."

Steve pressed his face into Bear's fur and Bucky let him, rocking them on the floor for a few minutes.

"Baby, can you look at me, please?" Steve slowly took his face out of Bear's chest and looked up at Daddy's face. "You're not bad and nobody's mad at you, baby. You're my good little boy. I just wanna know why you pushed Bruce, though. I know the obstacle course was an accident, and nobody cares that you knocked it down. It happens; it can be rebuilt. Pushing your baby cousin isn't very nice, though."

"Because of dream," Steve sniffled. He feels a little better now that Daddy told him he's not bad and nobody is mad at him. He's still not completely sure he won't get spanked, though, so he'll have to be careful for a while.

"I'm going to move us to the rocking chair, but I want to know what happened in your dream. Can you tell me, baby?"

"In dream I gived Brucie hug, but he no wike 'n' got mad and-and Hulk. Hulk smash...everyone...." Bucky gaped down at Steve. That's a horrible dream! It must have traumatized the poor little 2-year old. No wonder he didn't want to give Bruce any hugs or touch him too much today.

"Oh, baby.... That won't happen. Bruce is very good at controlling the Hulk now. He's even gotten better at it after age playing for a while. New Years was just really scary for him and he felt safer there as the Hulk. He knows he's safe here, though, and he shouldn't have any incidents, even if you do make him mad. Which you probably won't, because you're such a good boy. But, if he does Hulk out, Uncle Tony designed a special room for him until he calms down. Everything will be okay, it was just a dream."

"Okay, Daddy," Steve whispered, cuddling into Bucky's chest. He grabbed the arm that was holding the bottle and looked up at Bucky, innocently.

"Here, baby," Bucky smiled, bringing the bottle over to Steve's mouth. Steve quickly thanked him before opening his mouth and taking the nipple of the bottle in. Bucky rocked them gently, waiting for Steve to finish his bottle before speaking again. "Normally, I would sit your little butt in timeout for pushing your baby cousin, but I think you can get away this time with just saying sorry and giving him a hug and a kiss."

"Otay, Daddy. No mad?"

"No one is mad at you," Bucky confirmed. Steve squeaked when Bucky stood with him in his arms. "Come on, baby boy." Bucky carried his baby back to the playroom to see Bruce crying into Tony's neck on the floor. Steve whimpered and hid his face in Bucky's neck.

Bucky placed Steve on his feet and gently pushed his butt to get him to move. Steve slowly walked over to Bruce and Tony, sitting on his knees in front of them. "I sowwy, Bwucie. No more cry, pwease." Steve put his arms out and Tony moved Bruce into them. Steve hugged his baby cousin tightly and kissed his cheek. "No more hurt baby. Gentle." Bruce cuddled into Steve's chest as he started calming down.

"It's been a rough day after waking up from nap time, hasn't it?" Bucky asked.

"Yeah, Daddy. Better now." Steve hugged Bruce tighter. Clint slipped off of Phil's lap and hugged his babies tightly, kissing both of their foreheads.

"Good babies. I love you," Clint told them.

"I'm not a baby, Clinty. We still love you lots, though!"

The adults smiled and took a picture of them all. They have so many cute pictures of them all! Tony figures he could probably fill three photo albums with pictures of the three boys together being cute.

\---

"Dada, where you went today?" Steve wondered at bedtime.

"I went to S.H.I.E.L.D. and got some stuff for us to look at when you're big," Bucky explained.

"What stuff?"

"You need to find a therapist. I got some information to look at. There's a lot. We can look tomorrow, okay?"

"Kay, Dada. Come cuddle?" Bucky climbed into the crib after putting Steve down and pulled the blanket over them both. "Night night, Daddy." Steve snuggled into Bucky's chest, yawning.

"Goodnight, my good little boy. I love you so much." Bucky kissed Steve's hair. They were both asleep within minutes.


	9. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't even remember what happens in this tbh I wrote this like 2 weeks ago   
> Good luck reading this (and of course let me know if I should add warnings or fix my spelling or grammar or whatever)

"Bucky?" Steve groaned, waking up in the morning. He hates waking up big in his crib. He loves being little, but he doesn't love talking or thinking about it when he's big. He can't explain why, he just knows he doesn't like it.

"Hmm?" Bucky moaned.

"I want to get out." Steve isn't allowed to climb out of his crib when he's little or big. Nobody addressed yesterday's incident because of all the craziness that happened. Steve is grateful for that, because he really didn't want to wake up sore today.

"Okay." Bucky turned onto his side and hugged his friend tightly.

"Bucky!"

"Hmm?"

" _Please_ get me out of here. I have to go...."

"Okay, okay, fine." Bucky sat up and stretched before climbing out of the crib and helping Steve out.

"Thanks." Steve ran to the bathroom, then returned to his room to put sweatpants on.

"Hey, punk. How about you go up to your floor and take a shower while I make breakfast? What do you want?" Bucky asked.

"I don't care. Whatever you make."

"Alright. We'll eat on the common floor."

"Kay."

\---

"So, Stevie, are you ready to look for a therapist?" Bucky asked, plopping down on the couch next to Steve with two different folders full of papers.

"Guess so," Steve mumbled. "Hey, Bucky?"

"Hmm?"

"How come I'm depressed and stuff and you're not? We went through the exact same thing."

"Who says I'm not? I've just been getting help since I woke up. I still speak with a therapist when I can. Besides, everyone handles and reacts to things differently."

"Huh? Why didn't I know that?"

"You never asked."

"Your therapist helps you, though?"

"Yeah. She does. I wouldn't be able to go out if I didn't see her. Talking to a therapist will help you too. You'll be able to go out with me and the others and you'll be happier."

"Alright," Steve sighed. Bucky smiled and squeezed his friend tightly.

"Good kid. Alright, now, let's start looking. We can always try someone out for a while, then if you don't like them, you can see someone else."

"Okay."

"First thing's first: do you want a man or a woman or it doesn't matter?"

"A woman."

Bucky nodded and set aside one of the folders. "We don't need to bother with that one, then. You have a couple options for therapists. You can go to a group sorta thing–"

"No."

"Nobody will judge you or whatever. It's a group specifically for people who are littles who had something traumatic happen to them like you did."

"No. I'd rather just have one person to judge me."

"No one's gonna judge you, Steve. They're not allowed to."

"I still would rather just have one person."

"Okay, Stevie. Let's see who we've got here now." Bucky started flipping through the papers, taking out the ones Steve decided are no's and he won't even look at them. "You have four people to choose from now. Carey, Mable, Tori, and Harriet. Do you wanna look?" Bucky handed over the papers and Steve carefully looked at them.

He immediately said no to Carey. She looks really mean. He doesn't like mean people.

Mable was placed on the _maybe_ pile. She looks nice, but her papers say that she doesn't normally work with people who do ageplay, so he's not sure.

Tori was also placed on the _maybe_ pile. Steve is pretty sure that he's going to pick her, but he wants to look at Harriet's papers first.

One quick glance was all he needed to say no to Harriet. She looks mean, never works with people in ageplay, and in super small font, it says she doesn't even like kids! That's not going to work for Steve. He needs to speak with someone when he's little too.

Tori, on the other hand, looks really nice and mainly works with people in ageplay. She's even in an age play relationship with her boyfriend! And it says at the bottom that her boyfriend used to be in the army and has PTSD, but is now perfectly happy with his 'Mommy.'

"So what do you think, Steve? Do you need more time to pick someone?" Bucky asked.

"Nuh-uh. Can I have Tori as my therapist?"

"Of course. You can have whoever you want. I'll call her later to schedule your first appointment. Would you want me to go in with you?"

"Maybe just when I'm little."

"Okay, Stevie."

"I'm gonna go see Tony and Bruce and bug them."

"Alright, Punk. I'll call Tori, then probably annoy Nat."

"Don't annoy her too much. I would like my best friend in one piece, thank you very much."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll be good. Now run along, little Stevie."

Steve stuck his tongue out at Bucky. "Jerk." Steve quickly turned to run into the elevator.

"Get outta here, punk," Bucky laughed, playfully slapping Steve's ass as he hopped into the elevator. The two both smiled to themselves as the elevator doors closed (Steve's smile may have been interrupted by a wince as he rubbed his butt, though).

\---

"Dada, don't wanna go," Steve whined, sleepily.

"It'll be fine. You'll make a new friend and talk and have fun. Tell him, Clint," Bucky said.

"Yeah! I love talking with Cassie. We play games and she doesn't force me to talk about stuff if I don't wanna. It's fun!" Clint explained.

"I know, Clinty. Sleepy."

"Well, if you wake up and you're good today, Uncle Tony and I were gonna take you and your cousins to the park," Bucky explained.

"Park?"

"Mhmm. Won't that be fun?" Steve nodded and sat up a bit.

"Oh, Stevie, _please_ be good at the therapist, please!" Clint exclaimed. "I wanna go to the park really bad! Uncle Bucky, if I'm good enough for all three of us, can we still go?"

"We'll see. I'm sure all three of you will be really good today."

"Okay. Bye, Stevie. Have fun. Be good."

"Bye bye," Steve yawned, reaching for his daddy. Bucky picked him up and placed him on his hip.

"We'll see you later, guys," Bucky said.

"Eh eh!" Bruce grunted, bouncing on his legs and reaching up for Steve.

"Do you wanna give Stevie a kiss goodbye? Hmm?" Bruce nodded and continued his bouncing. Bucky leaned down a bit and put Steve's face next to Bruce's. Bruce planted a big, slobbery kiss on Steve's cheek.

"Thanks," Steve whined, wiping slobber off his cheek. "Bye bye, Brucie." Bucky finally carried Steve into the elevator and then into the car Natasha would be driving. Bucky is going to take his drivers test tomorrow and get his license (again). He's excited he won't need to rely on strangers and his friends to drive him around anymore. Tony is even giving him his own car!

"Dada? Wanna go back to sleep," Steve yawned.

"I know, baby. If you wake up now and are good, you can take a little nap on the way home for an hour or so before we go to the park."

"Okay, Daddy." Steve sat up in his seat and grabbed his pacifier from where it was clipped to his shirt, slipping it in his mouth. "Aun' 'asha unna ee ored," he lisped around the pacifier.

"I won't be bored, Stevie," Natasha assured. "I have stuff I can do on my laptop and your daddy will keep me company when you have your one-on-one talk with Tori."

"Otay. 'ood." Bucky smiled and reached his hand into the backseat to squeeze Steve's leg. "'unny!" Steve shoved his bunny in between Natasha and Bucky.

"I see! Do you love your bunny?"

Steve quickly nodded his head, causing his pacifier to fall out of his mouth. "Mhmm! Love Bear more, though."

"How come?"

"You gived me Bear, Daddy. Still love Bunny and Unca Tony, though! Lots and lots!"

"Who do you love more, Steve? Me or Uncle Tony?" Natasha asked.

"Daddy."

"Daddy wasn't an option, Steve."

"Daddy! Daddy, daddy, daddy!" Steve kicked his legs excitedly.

"Someone's certainly awake now," Bucky groaned, not at all happy about having his seat kicked. "No kicking the seat, baby."

Steve immediately stopped and hugged Bunny tightly. "Sowwy, Dada."

"It's okay, baby boy. Just don't do it again. Especially if someone is driving."

"Otay. Sowwy." Bucky smiled and assured Steve that it's okay.

They finally made it to S.H.I.E.L.D. and Bucky led Steve and Natasha to the elevator. Steve was allowed to push the button for the floor they went to and he started spinning in circles, giggling as the elevator moved. By the time it stopped, Steve was very dizzy and couldn't walk straight, making Bucky lift him into his arms and carry him.

"Silly baby," Bucky teased, tickling Steve's tummy. Steve giggled and grabbed his daddy's hand to hold instead. Realizing where he is now made him nervous.

"Daddy...."

"Yeah, baby?"

"Needa diaper...."

"Okay, babe. Nat, if Tori comes out before we get back, just tell her we're in the bathroom and will be out in a couple minutes."

"Alright, Bucky," Natasha hummed, getting her laptop out and turning it on. She's been procrastinating work lately to play with her nephews and spend time with Bucky. She has to finish it up now.

Bucky carried Steve into the bathroom and set him down on the changing table. Steve was barely even wet, but Bucky didn't want to take a chance, so he quickly changed his baby's diaper.

"Daddy," Steve whimpered.

"What's wrong, baby?"

"Scared."

Bucky frowned and pulled Steve up into his arms. "What are you scared of, Stevie?"

"What if Tori mean?"

"She won't be, baby. We're both pretty good at seeing when people are nice or mean, but you especially are, Stevie. You wouldn't have picked her if you thought she'd be mean."

"No 'an tell fwom pictures 'n words."

"Well, let's go out and see what happens. Give her a chance. Three visits. If you don't like her by then, we can find you someone else."

"Otay, Dada. Cuddle and nap laters?"

"Yeah, baby. Of course. You ready to go out?" Steve nodded and squirmed around in Bucky's arms, wanting to be put down.

"I walk, Daddy. Not a baby."

"Of course, you're such a big boy, but you're still _my_ baby." Steve stuck his tongue out at his daddy when he was put down.

"Go talk now so 'an have cuddles 'n parks?"

"Yeah, baby. Come on." Bucky held his hand out and Steve grabbed it, following his daddy out of the bathroom to where Aunt Natasha was now talking with a new lady who Steve recognized as Tori. "Hello, I'm James "Bucky" Barnes," Bucky greeted, holding his free hand out to Tori.

"Hi, I'm Tori," Tori smiled, shaking Bucky's hand. "This must be Steve." Steve blushed and hid his face in Bucky's shoulder.

"Steve, don't be rude. Your ma and I didn't teach you to be rude. Say 'hi.'"

"Oh, it's alright," Tori assured. "I know it can be scary meeting a new person, right, Steve?" Steve nodded into Bucky's shoulder. "Okay, so what are we doing? Are you going to come in with us to talk? Whatever Steve wants is fine with me. We can send you out or bring you in whenever you want, James."

"I think Steve wants me to come with him while he's little and leave when he's big. Isn't that what you said, baby?"

"Mhmm," Steve answered. He wants to go home and play with his cousins. He doesn't wanna talk to a new person! But Clinty was really excited about going to the park and they won't be able to if Steve doesn't talk to Tori, so he'll be a big boy and talk.

"Okay. Let's go into my room and talk." Tori led the boys into her room and Steve looked around, curiously. There's one big, comfy looking red, blue, and green couch and a matching chair across from it. There's a coffee table in between them with a bunch of board games and there are toys all around the room.

"Pway?" Steve asked, forgetting about not being home.

"Let's talk a little bit first and then you can play. Sound good?" Tori asked.

"Toys...." Steve gave Tori his best puppy eyes.

"I'm immune to puppy eyes, Steve, sorry. You look very cute, though." Steve pouted at that.

"You have Bunny," Bucky pointed out. Steve sighed and curled up on Bucky's lap once he sat on the couch. Steve hugged his bunny tightly, wishing he had Bear too. He loves Bunny a lot, but Bear has been protecting him since he was really young. Bunny does a pretty good job of that when they go out somewhere, but not as good as Bear. When they're together, though, Steve knows he's extra safe. That's the only reason he's even considering letting Daddy leave him alone in his crib at night.

"A lot has changed for you these last few months, huh, Steve?"

"Uh-huh. Lots."

"Yeah. And it's been pretty scary, right?"

"Very."

"Can you tell me what kind of things have been scary?"

"Everythin'," Steve mumbled into Bucky's chest.

"Like what, baby?" Bucky asked, hoping to get more out of him.

"Not much 's when fiwst waked up, Dada. People 'n TV 'n toys. Different. Scary."

"Everything is very different that it was before the crash," Bucky agreed, not acknowledging Steve's flinch yet. He's sure Tori noticed and will talk to him about it. "Some things are different in a bad, scary way, but a lot of things are different in a good way."

"I know.... Dada no scared."

"I had therapists help me get used to everything. You only had Uncle Phil and Clinty. And Clinty's not always super nice about some things, right?"

"What is Clint not nice about?" Tori asked.

"On'y when we big! Dada, Clinty super nice."

"Steve, he teases you all the time. About anything and everything."

"No. Wuv Clinty!"

"What about the people and TV and toys do you think is scary, Steve?" Tori wondered.

"Uh.... No know. Jus' is different. Different thinks 'n colors 'n shows 'n louds. No like loud. Or cold."

"Your daddy mentioned to me on the phone that you've had panic attacks before. Can you describe what they feel like to you?"

Steve was even more quiet than before as he hugged Bunny tightly. "Is scary. And cold...no know 'm not on tha pwane. C'n't breathe." Steve sniffled and turned his face into Daddy's chest. Bucky gently rubbed his back and kissed his cheek.

"It's okay, baby. You don't have to talk about that anymore. You're doing good."

"You're doing really good," Tori commented. "How about we play a game for a little bit, then if you feel up to it, you can be big and we can talk a bit. You don't have to, though. You can think about what you want while we play."

"Otay," Steve nodded, calmly.

"Do you want to pick the game?" Steve nodded again and slid off of Bucky's lap, sitting on the floor to look at the board games. Steve took his pacifier from where it was clipped to his shirt and stuffed it in his mouth while he thought about what game he wants to play.

"Dis one, Dada!" Steve held up _Candy Land_. He played that with Clint, Phil, and Tony a few weeks ago and loved it. He's played it a lot since then and it's been just as fun. It wasn't as fun that time Brucie ate one of the pieces. They haven't played with more than three people in a few days.

"Okay, baby boy," Bucky smiled, kissing his baby's forehead. "Wanna help set it up?"

"Uh-huh."

After a game of _Candy Land,_ Steve was bragging about how much better at the game he was than Daddy and Tori. He won! He never wins! Clint or Tony always beat him!

"Nobody like a sore winner, Steve," Bucky scolded.

"Sowwy, Dada. I stop."

"It's okay, baby." Bucky squeezed his baby tightly while Tori put the game away.

"So, Steve," Tori said, sitting in her chair. "How are you feeling? You wanna talk to me a bit while you're big?"

Steve leaned against Bucky's chest quietly and shook his head no. "Nuh-uh."

"Steve," Bucky frowned.

"Pwease, Dada. No wanna." Steve looked into Bucky's eyes sadly. Bucky felt his heart melt and he hugged his baby tightly.

"That's alright. He doesn't have to if he doesn't want to. I won't force him to do anything here. Hear that, Steve?" Tori asked, gently.

Steve nodded into Daddy's chest. "Thank you," he whispered. "Bunny wants to go home. Misses Bear. And Es and Dex. Daddy?"

"Okay, babe. Go sit with Aunt Natasha while I schedule your next appointment."

"Aunt Peggy?"

"We'll go see her again soon. Maybe tomorrow."

"Otay, Dada. Bye-bye." Steve waved at Tori as he waddled out into Natasha's arms.

"He did good today, James," Tori explained once Steve was gone.

"He barely said anything," Bucky shrugged.

"But he talked. He's not going to just tell a stranger everything right away. He needs to get used to me for a few visits first. He will. He did good for a first visit, though. I've had other people not say anything more than 'hi' for seven visits. Compared to them, Steve did _really_ excellent."

"He didn't want to be big to talk to you."

"So what? It's hard for people of all ages to open up to strangers. Sometimes even people they've known for years. We'll try next time to get him to talk while he's big. At least for a few minutes."

"Okay. So when will _next time_ be?" Bucky took his phone out to check his calendar. He has appointments with his own therapist and he has to find out when he can take Steve to see Peggy again.

"Hmm." Tori took her tablet from the bag next to her chair. "Everyday next week–except Tuesday–I have openings whenever you want from 10 to 3. Tuesday I have one opening at 4. What works best for you and Steve?"

"Daddy! Home!" Steve whined from outside the room.

"Just a minute, Stevie! Uh, Wednesday at 1 could work. I have an appointment with my therapist here, so I can just drop Steve off with you while I go to that."

"Are you sure he'll be okay without you?"

"I mean...probably. I can see if one of his uncle's or maybe a cousin will come incase Steve needs them."

"Alright. Just call me if you need to change anything."

"Daddeeee!"

"I'm coming, babe! Alright. We'll see you."

"Have a nice day, James," Tori smiled.

"You too," Bucky smiled back. "Bye." He walked out of the room to his baby and picked him up off of Natasha's lap. "Would you like a little cheese to go with that whine, Steve?" Bucky teased.

"Daddy," Steve pouted, crossing his arms.

"Yes, Stevie?" Bucky tapped the toddler's nose, making him go cross eyed for a second. Bucky laughed, placing Steve back on his feet to get his coat and hat back on. "I love doing that to you. You're so cute."

"Mean Dada. Aunt Tasha, Daddy's mean."

"I know, he is, isn't he?" Nat said. "Maybe we should leave him here."

"No! Daddy," Steve whimpered and turned into Bucky's arms.

"Oh, we would never do that, Steve. Aunt Natasha was just being mean," Natasha whispered, rubbing her nephew's back gently.

"Mean," Steve mumbled.

"I know. I'm sorry."

"Is otay. Sleepy."

"Let's get home and have a nap and some cuddles before we go to the park, then," Bucky smiled, lifting Steve back into his arms.

"Kay." Bucky and Natasha smiled at each other as they left S.H.I.E.L.D. to go back to the tower.

"When are we going to tell him?" Natasha asked, looking in the mirror to see the now sleeping baby being buckled into his car seat.

"Wait a little while longer. It's gonna be hard for him. I want us to be a bit more sure first before we tell him. And maybe even tell Tony–or, more likely, Phil first."

"Alright." Bucky smiled at Natasha and squeezed her hand as they started the drive home.

\---

"Be good, bug," Phil said.

"I'll be super good! We're goin' to the park!" Clint exclaimed, jumping up and down.

"I know, Clint, but you're not going if you don't sit still and let me put your jacket and boots on. It's cold out." Clint sighed, dramatically, and plopped down on the couch.

"Dex?" Bruce whined, lightly kicking his legs in Tony's arms.

"Baby, if you bring Dex you'll have to be super super careful so you don't lose him. Are you sure you wanna take him?" Tony asked.

"Dex."

"Brucie shouldn't bring stuffed toys 'cause they get wet and icky from snow," Clint explained. "It's funner to come home from playin' in snow and have a warm bath and hot chocolate and cuddles with Daddy and your favorite stuffed animal and blanket!"

"Sounds like you're speaking from experience," Bucky said.

"Uh-huh! Me and Daddy play in the snow lots. Every year! Unless we get sick. That's not fun. But we get to have cuddles and soup which is good."

"Good," Steve agreed, nodding his head. He used to get sick a lot before he got the super soldier serum, and he cuddled with Bucky lots. Bucky always made him soup and fed it to him after his ma wasn't around to do it anymore. That's actually how Steve and Bucky started age play! Steve thinks about that when he has trouble sleeping sometimes.

"Bruce, do you still want to bring Dex?" Tony asked, bouncing his baby.

"Bath Dex?" Bruce has a bath toy that's a dolphin. Bruce seems to have decided every dolphin is named 'Dex.'

"Okay, baby boy."

"Daddy, can Scott come too?" Clint asked, jumping up now that he's finally ready.

"Scott?" Phil asked, confused.

"The shark!"

Bucky laughed. "You change that shark's name every bath, don't you?"

Phil shook his head. "You don't know how many names that shark's gone through over the years. Or any of Clint's toys, actually. The only one who's always had the same name is Esther."

Clint stuck his tongue out and hugged Esther tightly before putting her in Steve's high chair. "Daddy, you gotta get Esther to finish lunch. She had lotsa candy before and doesn't want lunch now."

"Okay," Phil nodded. "I'll make sure she eats. Go get Scott and Bath Dex."

"Stevie, do you want to bring a toy to the park?" Bucky asked.

"Cars?"

"Alright, baby. Go get some. You're gonna be careful with them and not lose them, right?"

"Yes, Daddy." Steve crouched on the ground and gathered a couple of cars into his arms before standing up. His eyes widened when he realized he couldn't hold all of his cars and put his arms up for Daddy at the same time. How else will Daddy know to pick him up?!

Bucky, being the little shit that he is, just stood there with his arms crossed, chuckling at his poor baby as he tried to figure out what to do. "You okay, Stevie?" He finally asked.

Steve dropped all his cars on the ground to put his arms up. He started crying when one of them fell on his foot. Even though he was wearing snow boots and two pairs of socks and dropping the car didn't hurt, he cried anyway.

"Aw, my poor baby," Bucky said, picking his baby up on his hip. "Is your foot okay?"

Steve responded by crying into his daddy's shoulder.

"How about you just take two or three cars instead of ten? Pick your favorites." Steve sniffled when he was sat on the floor.

"Clinty help?"

"I'll help you, Stevie!" Clint exclaimed, smiling. He sat on the floor next to his cousin.

"Pick one!" Steve grabbed his favorite car and hugged it. The car he chose to take is navy blue with a black stripe on the sides and it's awesome! Clint chose an orange and blue car. Steve looked at the cars, trying to pick another one out, then he heard his baby cousin start whining, restlessly. Steve grabbed the three he was trying to chose between stood up, holding them out so Bruce could see. "Brucie pick?"

Bruce cooed and tapped the car with two different shades of green.

"Good choice, Brucie! Wanna hold it?" Bruce nodded gently and took the car from his cousin. "Good Brucie." Steve kissed the baby's forehead before running into his daddy's arms.

"Such a good boy," Bucky smiled, hugging his baby tightly. "Are we ready to go to the park now?"

The kids all nodded, excitedly. Clint hugged his daddy goodbye before grabbing his Uncle Tony's hand and dragging him to the elevator. And _finally_ they were off to the park.

\---

Bucky and Tony took the kids to a special park with a playground for people in age play and they _loved_ it. There were only two other people there and they were at the swings and left minutes before Steve decided he wanted to play there.

As soon as they arrived, Clint immediately jumped into a giant pile of snow, laughing.

"Uncle Bucky, Scott is a snow shark!" He exclaimed.

"A snow shark that drives a car. Very interesting," Bucky commented. "Hey, Clint? Can you listen to me for a minute?"

"Uh-huh. What is it, Uncle Bucky?"

"I need you to be _extremely_ careful that you don't get snow in Steve's face while you're playing, alright? I'd also like you to keep like half an eye on him and let me know immediately if he starts to have a panic attack. You're his big cousin and you gotta help take care of him, right?"

"Yeah! I'll be careful and watch both of my babies!" Clint smiled from his new nest made out of snow.

"Okay. Thank you, Clinty. I appreciate it." Bucky ruffled his nephew's hair, allowing himself to be tackled by Bruce. "What are you doing, silly baby?" He teased, turning them over and tickling the baby. Bruce squealed and kicked his legs, laughing.

"Oh no, Brucie! The evil dragon got you!" Clint gasped, making his way out of his nest. "Me 'n Scott will save you!" Clint jumped on his uncle with a handful of snow and dumped it on his head. He said not to do that to Steve, but didn't say anything about himself.

Bucky hissed and arched his back, getting on his hands and knees to crawl away and try to throw Clint off. Clint hanged on, laughing the whole time while Steve ran to Bruce with his car. He crouched next to him to allow him to climb on his back.

"Get on, I save you!" Steve urged. Bruce clung to his cousin like a leech, giggling as he started running around while making car noises.

"S'eve, dwagon!" Bruce gasped, pointing at his daddy, who tried to make himself look mean and scary like a dragon. (It didn't work out so well with him looking like an anorexic marshmallow, but a marshmallow nonetheless. The kids didn't care about that, though.)

"Rawr!" Tony growled in as deep a voice as he could manage. "I'm going to tickle you both to death if you don't give me all your gold!"

"No!" Both boys shrieked in unison as Tony carefully pulled them both to the ground. He had one hand on Bruce's back and the other over Steve's face just incase.

"Clinty! Hewp!" Steve called out, laughing.

"Come on, dragon, you are not evil no more!" Clint yelled at Bucky. He stayed on his back and went over to the others. "I tamed this dragon; he's good now! Now come on, Bucky-dragon, help my baby cousins from your evil dragon friend!" Bucky roared and attacked Tony, saving Steve and Bruce.

"We gotta slay the evil dragon now!" Clint explained, helping his cousins up.

"Wif what?" Steve frowned. "No has weapons!"

"That's okay! Scott will help! Go get sticks for swords!" Clint started attacking Tony with his shark while Steve and Bruce each found a stick to beat him with.

It didn't take long after the dragons were defeated and the gold was safe for Bruce to get tired. Tony was laying on Clint's snow nest (with permission of course), exhausted from being beaten with toy sharks and sticks for a good 10 minutes. Bruce crawled over and laid himself over his daddy like a blanket, promptly falling asleep. Tony took one of his mittens off and carefully put his hand down Bruce's pants to check the state of his diaper: wet, but not terribly so.

Tony called Bucky over, cupping his hands over his baby's ears so he didn't wake him. He usually takes a nap around this time anyway. "We should probably get going soon. I don't want to leave Bruce in a wet diaper for too long. And Steve is probably wet too and he looks ready to fall asleep. Clint probably needs the bathroom; I don't think he went before we left."

"I think everyone's getting cold too," Bucky added. "I'm seeing some red noses and a bit of shivering. I'll go give the kids their 10 minute warning, then we can go home."

Tony nodded and pulled his baby closer to his chest, protecting him from the cold. He placed a gentle kiss to the baby's forehead before turning to watch his nephews.

"Uncle Tony!" Clint pouted. "Do we have to go? I'm havin' fun!"

"Shh. The baby's sleeping. We have to go in a few minutes. Bruce's diaper is wet and everybody's getting cold. Go play for a few more minutes, Clinty. Steve's waiting for you." Tong nodded over at Steve who was standing still, staring blankly at them with his thumb in his mouth.

"No he's not; he's peeing. That's what he does when he actually knows he's peeing."

"I'm not sure how you know that and I'm not sure I want to know. Phil's told me you've worn diapers before, so you know how uncomfortable sitting in a wet diaper is. And if one of your cousins got a rash they'd be very cranky until it went away. They'll both get rashes if we don't go home soon and change them."

"Okay, Uncle Tony," Clint sighed. "In 5 minutes, though! I wanna go on the slides more!"

"Okay, bud. Go have fun." Clint smiled at his uncle before running to the playground and climbing onto the jungle gym.

"Stevie, wanna go on the slide with me?!" Clint called. Steve waddled over to his cousin and climbed onto the jungle gym, going to the biggest slide with Clint. "You can sit on my lap, baby."

"Not a baby," Steve pouted. He sat on his cousin's lap anyway. Clint scooted forward, holding his cousin tightly while they slid down the slide.

"Again!" Steve demanded, giggling.

"Two more times only, and then we gotta go home," Clint explained. Steve whined and crossed his arms.

"No. Stay."

"I want to stay here too, but you and Brucie need new diapers and your nose is red, so you're probably cold."

"Not cold. 'N us no need new diapers."

"You are and you do. Maybe my daddy makes us hot chocolate when we go home! And we can watch whatever movie you want. And come back another day. Now let's go on the slide again before we go home."

Steve pouted, but followed his cousin back to the slides. They went down a few times, then Bucky walked over to them.

"Time to go?" Clint frowned. Bucky nodded, smiling sadly. Clint sighed, but walked over to his uncle. "Can you call Daddy and ask him to make hot chocolate for when we get home? Please, Uncle Bucky?"

"Okay. I'll let you call while we walk, okay?" Clint nodded, smiling, then turned to Steve who was standing on top of the jungle gym with his arms crossed. "Steve, come on, baby. Let's get going."

"No."

"Steven."

"No, Daddy. I stayin'."

Bucky sighed deeply. Steve used to do this all the time when they were kids and they got to play outside. (With Steve's bad health, his mom didn't let him play outside much.) Sarah would tell Steve 'okay' and start walking away; Steve would always be clinging to his mother's side within another two minutes. Bucky wonders....

"Okay, Steve. You stay here. Come on, Clint. Let's go get Uncle Tony and Bruce and go home." Bucky grabbed his nephew's hand and started walking away. Clint's eyes widened and he turned to look at his baby cousin who was still standing with his arms crossed, although he looked a little bit scared now.

"Uncle Bucky–"

"Shh, don't look at him. Just walk," Bucky whispered to the little boy. Clint frowned, but turned back around and walked to Tony and Bruce. Bruce's face scrunched up as he let out a yawn when Tony stood with him in his arms.

"Bucky," Tony started. "Are you forgetting something?"

"Nope. Do you have Bruce's toys?" Tony nodded. "Clint? Got your toys?"

"Yes, but, Uncle Bucky, Stevie's not followin' us."

"He will. Don't worry." Three steps later, they heard Steve burst into sobs and come running.

"Dada!" Steve sobbed, tugging on his daddy's sleeve. "No forget me!"

Bucky picked his baby up on his hip and rubbed his back, trying to get him to quiet down so he doesn't wake up Bruce. "It's okay, baby. Daddy's here. He would never forget you. Next time, come when I tell you to."

"Otay," Steve sniffled. "Mad?"

"I'm not mad, baby. I'm gonna put you down though, because I'm not walking three quarters of a mile carrying you."

"Can I call Daddy now?" Clint asked a little bit into their walk home.

Bucky hummed and nodded, digging his phone out of his pocket and dialing Phil's number. He handed the phone to Clint and squeezed Steve's hand when he whined. It's probably going to be nap time when they get home. And Bruce and Steve's sleep schedules will be all out of whack now, so Bucky and Tony are sure to have great fun in the middle of the night.

"Daddy's makin' us hot chocolate! And Aunt Natasha is gonna make baked ziti for dinner!" Clint started rambling about the hot chocolate and baked ziti and somehow ended up on dinosaurs by the time they got home.

"That kid can talk your ear off," Tony mumbled to Phil as he walked past him. He took Bruce into the bathroom and stripped him down to his diaper, leaving his wet clothes hanging over the shower rod. "Hey, Buck, can you hold him for a second, please?"

Bucky nodded and took the sleeping baby while Tony got rid of his own wet clothes. Tony took his baby back and carried him to his room, carefully laying him on the changing table. Bruce immediately woke up and started crying.

"Hey, hey, what's wrong, baby?" Tony frowned. He picked Bruce up and the cries stopped. "Silly, baby. Daddy has to change your diaper so you don't get a rash." Tony put him back down and the cries started again. Tony sighed and decided to just let him cry while he changes his diaper. Bruce cried harder when his legs were lifted, so after the diaper, Tony decided not to put clothes on him so he didn't have to fight Bruce and make him cry more.

"Ouchie," Bruce cried into Tony's neck.

"What hurts, baby? You don't have a rash." Tony frowned and sat in the rocking chair with his baby and tried to ask him what hurts without any luck.

"Uncle Tony?" Clint asked, knocking on the door. Clint walked in the room in his underwear and a green t-shirt with a monkey on it and his Nemo blanket around his shoulders. "I bringed you and Brucie hot chocolate." He handed Tony the mug and bottle of hot chocolate.

"Thank you, Clint," Tony smiled.

"Why is the baby crying?"

"He said something hurts, but he won't say what," Tony sighed.

"He fell on the jungle gym before on his back. Maybe that's what hurt him."

Tony frowned and gently rubbed his baby's back, watching his face to see if his expression changes. Once he got to his lower back, Bruce flinched and started sobbing.

"Ow, Dada!"

"My poor baby," Tony frowned. "Why didn't you tell Daddy your back hurt before, hmm? Thank you for telling me this, Clint. I probably wouldn't have known otherwise."

"You're welcome, Uncle Tony! Want me to ask Daddy for medicines for Brucie?"

"That would be nice; thanks, Clint. Daddy'll know what to give Bruce."

"Okay. I'll be right back!" Clint turned and ran out of the room while Tony rocked his baby.

"It's okay, baby. Clinty's gonna come back in a minute with some medicine and you'll feel better."

Clint returned a few minutes later with a capful of liquid medicine in one hand and a sippy cup of hot chocolate in his other hand.

"Daddy maked me have my medicines too," Clint pouted when Bruce made an icky face. "It was yucky pills! You're lucky you got liquid medicines, Brucie."

"Ick," Bruce whined, pushing away Tony's hand holding the now empty cap. Tony handed it to Clint who brought it back out to Phil. "Ow, Daddy."

"I know, baby. Give the medicine a little while to start working."

"Dex."

"Here's Dex, baby." Tony handed the stuffed dolphin to his baby, smiling when Bruce hugged the dolphin tightly. "Good boy. Wanna go out to see everyone and have hot chocolate?"

"Blanket?"

"We can bring a blanket if you want."

"Yay!" Tony kissed Bruce's forehead as he stood up with him. When Tony walked out to the playroom, they saw Bucky and Natasha. Kissing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *skims through this to avoid reading too much and cringing a lot* okay so I see Steve finally got to a therapist. I have been to (multiple) therapists before but all therapists (I've seen at least) are different so I'm kinda just combining stuff from all of them and mixing myself in too (that sounds really weird but whatever)   
> Time to go have pizza. See you next week losers (if I ever finish chapter 9 that I've been working on for 2 weeks ;-;)


	10. Chapter 8 Bonus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...  
>  So  
> How's it going?  
> ...  
> Alright so this should be an actual chapter and shoulda been updated hours ago but first of all: stress and bs from school and family, etc  
> Second: I'm not doing so great writing a lot  
> I wanted to post this bonus chapter last week but i was stressing a lot so I couldn't focus on remembering to update  
> I'm sorry  
> I start winter break on Friday and don't go back to school until January 3rd(?) so hopefully I'll get a few chapters written then and I'll be able to relax and stop being so damn stressed...  
> Anyway  
> For now enjoy this bonus from chapter 8. I may or may not post chapter 9 later this week... we'll see

**Brooklyn, NY February, 1939**

Steve woke up feeling horrible. His throats hurts, his stomach hurts, his head hurts, his chest hurts, and he can't breathe. He's felt like this a lot before thanks to his shitty immune system, but it seems to get worse every time he gets sick. And he's cold. Where's Bucky...?

Steve was about to call for him, but remembered that they both have work today. (It's Saturday, so no school!) They've been working as much as possible without the other knowing so they could get each other a really good Christmas present this year.

"Steve, you up?" Bucky called from their tiny kitchen. Somehow, after Steve's ma died, Bucky convinced his own mother to let them get an apartment together. Bucky's ma helps them out a bit, but it's mostly the two of them.

Steve cleared his throat, wincing at the pain. "Yeah!" He called back.

"Alright. I'm gonna get going. Make sure you're up for work. It's 7:30. I'll try to stop by and see you on my lunch, but I'll definitely see you tonight. Bye, Stevie."

"Mhmm." Steve curled into a ball under his blankets and listened to the front door open and shut. He laid in bed for a few more minutes, then slowly slid out of bed and into the tiny bathroom. He used the toilet, then brushed his teeth and got dressed. He ate a bit of breakfast, then bundled himself up in jackets and left, locking the door behind him.

\---

Steve quickly discovered that working while sick is not fun. As soon as he stepped out of bed this morning, his head started pounding, and it only got worse as the day progressed.

Around 10 o' clock, he started to feel like he was a walking corpse. He can barely breathe and everything hurts; he can't even tell his boss that he's sick because his throats hurts so bad. And Steve doesn't look _that_ much worse than normal, so nobody at work can tell that he's sick. Bucky could tell, but Bucky's not here. He doesn't get off for lunch until 11:30, and he might not even come to see Steve.

Steve whimpered as he felt his breakfast start to come up.

"Rogers? Are you–woah! Hey, someone-" Steve didn't hear anything else after he blacked out.

\---

Steve briefly woke up, but was only aware of being carried. He whined and cuddled into the chest of whoever was carrying him.

"Steve? You okay?" Bucky asked. Steve looked up at his friend, then blacked out again.

\---

The next time Steve woke up, he was in the bathtub, having warm water poured over his body. He whined and rubbed his face.

"Steve!" Bucky exclaimed. "Hey. I lost you for a bit there, buddy. How you feeling?"

"Daddy," Steve whimpered. Bucky's eyes widened, but he figured he could wait to address this. He gently rubbed Steve's stomach with one hand while he poured water on him with the other.

"It's okay, Steve. We're gonna get you taken care of. You'll be all better soon. I promise. I'm gonna wash you now, then get you some medicine, alright?"

Steve nodded quietly. "Daddy?" He croaked.

"What, Stevie?" Bucky grabbed a wash cloth and gently started washing Steve after getting it all soapy.

"Hurts."

"What hurts?"

"Evwythin'."

Bucky frowned, sadly. "I know. I'll be fast, then you can take your medicine and go to sleep and get better. Sound good?"

"Mhmm." Steve closed his eyes and let Bucky move him around like a rag doll to get him clean and in pajamas. Steve winced as he swallowed his medicine. It's gross.

"Sleep, Stevie." Steve hummed as he was tucked in bed. Bucky gently rubbed his head until he fell asleep.

\---

Three days later, after lots of sleep and being fed soup and a _bunch_ of cuddles, Steve was mostly better and had snapped out of that place his mind's been in the last few days. He can't believe that he called his best friend _Daddy!_

"Bucky?" Steve called after clearing his throat. Bucky ran into the bedroom, worried.

"You okay, bud?" He asked.

"I'm fine, Buck. I'm, uh sorry about these last few days."

"It's alright, punk. Why didn't you tell me you were sick, though?"

"We had to go to work. I'm really sorry we both had to miss work and school because I was sick and uh...being weird about it."

"It's okay. What was that about, though?"

"I don't know. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize. It's okay. I didn't actually mind it. You know I like taking care of you. As long as it's not because you let yourself get beat up." Bucky pinched Steve's thigh a little bit harder than he normally would if he was just teasing him. Steve winced and squirmed away.

"Um, Bucky? Am I-am I wearing a diaper?" Steve blushed.

"Yeah. You were having accidents. After three times, I went out and bought you diapers."

"Sorry. I'll pay you back."

"No. Keep your money, Steve. It's fine."

"No. Please let me pay you back. I'd feel bad."

"Don't. It's okay, really. Come here." Steve sat up and hugged his friend tightly. "Steve? Do you think maybe you're little?"

Steve blushed and shrugged. "I don't know...."

"You have to take the test on your 18th birthday, anyway. And I don't feel like going to school today. We could both go take it early."

"What if someone at school finds out?"

"So what if they find out? There's already like twenty percent of the school who's little. And this is our last year there, anyway."

"Um...alright. Okay, Buck. I'm not wearing a diaper out, though."

Bucky ruffled his friend's hair and went to get their clothes out.

\---

"Steven, you're going to need to go home to tell your parents that you're staying here now," the person testing them stated.

"Wait, what?" Bucky demanded. "Why?"

"Well, he could stay at home with his parents, but they'll have to watch him, and take him back here on his 18th birthday to find a big."

"I'll be his big."

"Buck–" Steve sighed.

"Come on, Steve. We've been best friends almost our whole lives. We're comfortable with each other and we know everything about each other already. Besides, you just called me 'Daddy' for like three days."

"Okay," Steve finally agreed.

"You have to be 18 to be somebody's big," the lady, Carol, told them.

"I'm almost 18," Bucky pointed out. "In less than a month. Come on. He can't stay here and he can't go home to any parents."

Carol sighed and bit her lip, looking around.

"Alright. Fine. Here's what we're going to do: when you turn 18, you both come back here to take the test again and sign the papers then. For now, just don't tell anyone that you're doing this. Go to school, work, whatever. Do age play alone at home. Only for one month."

Bucky smiled at her. "Thank you, Carol."

Carol just rolled her eyes and told them to get lost.

\---

"You okay, Stevie?" Bucky asked when they got home.

"Yeah. I just wasn't expecting that."

"Are you sure?"

"Mhmm." Steve moved to the window and looked outside.

"You wanna go out and play in the snow? Hmm?"

"We can't. Carol said we can't let anybody know."

"So? No one will know. We're just friends playing in snow."

"What if I slip?"

"Then we'll come home."

"I don't know.... I just got over being sick, and I'm still not feeling so good. Maybe we should just wait to sign everything so it's okay."

"We can't play in the snow until next year, then. Unless it snows on my birthday, which I doubt it will."

"There's always next year," Steve shrugged, pulling his jacket and shoes off. Bucky bit his lip and sighed, doing the same as his friend.

"Okay, Stevie. Do you want to talk about anything?"

"No."

"Do you want to be little right now? It's just us here; no one will know."

Steve shrugged, then quietly nodded. Bucky smiled at him and led him to their bedroom. "Daddy...."

"Yeah, baby. Daddy's right here. He's gonna get you in a diaper just in case, okay?" Steve blushed deeply, but didn't say anything. He laid on the bed and allowed Bucky to strip him and put the diaper on him. "Such a good boy, Stevie." Bucky tickled Steve's stomach, making him giggle. He stopped after a minute and got his baby dressed into warm pajamas.

"Daddy loves you, Steve. This will be fun; it'll be good for us both. You'll see." Steve hummed and reached his skinny arms up, cautiously for a hug. Bucky immediately lifted him up and squeezed him tightly.

"Daddy," Steve sighed, happily into Daddy's shoulder.


	11. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas I'm updating a day early as a present  
> If you don't celebrate Christmas though: happy *insert holiday you celebrate*  
> If you don't celebrate anything: happy updating day a day early  
> I hope you've all had a great, happy, safe holiday/regular day of your life  
> I may or may not update the bonus for this chapter tomorrow... I might just be out with my archery set all while it's light out...   
> Anyway, enjoy the chapter ^^

Bucky and Natasha didn't stop kissing until they heard a door slam shut. They quickly broke apart and looked around, blushing when they saw Tony, Bruce, Phil, and Clint.

"Hey, everyone," Bucky said, face still flushed.

"Was that...Steve that slammed the door?" Natasha asked. Bucky's eyes widened when he saw everyone nodding. He ran to Steve's door and tried to open it, but it was stuck.

"Steve! Baby, open the door. It's Daddy."

"No!" Steve yelled at him.

"Please? Come on, baby."

"Buck...take Bruce. Let me try," Tony whispered, handing Bruce over. Bucky sighed and took Bruce over to the couch. He should have been more careful about kissing Nat where Steve could see. Bucky's still slightly upset at Steve, though, because this means he climbed out of his crib, which he's not allowed to do!

"Steve. Buddy, open the door. It's just Uncle Tony," Tony said, lightly knocking on the door.

"No!"

Everyone tried to get Steve to open the door for about an hour, with no luck. Steve kept telling them 'no' and even told Phil to go away.

Clint was starting to get bored by this time and worried about his baby cousin. Babies can't be alone for this long! Clint knows he'll get in trouble for this, but it will be worth it as long as Stevie is okay.

He sneaked away from everyone and got up in the vents. He quickly crawled through them, ending up in Steve's room in less than 3 minutes.

"Go away, Clinty," Steve pouted when he saw his cousin.

"Nuh-uh. What's wrong, Stevie?"

Steve crossed his arms and ignored Clint.

"Steve. Please talk to me."

"No."

"Will you talk to your daddy, then?"

"No."

"What about my daddy? Or Uncle Tony?"

"Tori."

"Tori? Your therapist?"

"Yah."

"Okay, Stevie. I'll tell Uncle Bucky. Can I hug you?"

"Otay...." Clint pulled Steve into his arms and squeezed him.

"Can you come out with me, Stevie? You don't gotta talk to no one." Steve slowly nodded and pulled his dresser away from the door, putting it back in its original place. Steve grabbed Bear and Bunny and followed Clint out to everyone else.

"Steve!" Bucky exclaimed, relieved to see his baby. He threw his arms out, expecting Steve to run into them. Steve walked right past him and into the kitchen.

"Unca Tony, have juice, pwease?"

"Yeah. Of course, kiddo," Tony answered. "Wanna hold Brucie while I get you juice?" Steve nodded and hugged his baby cousin tightly.

Bucky felt his heart break as he watched his baby walk past him.

"Uncle Bucky?" Clint whispered. "Stevie said he'll talk to Tori."

"His appointment with her isn't for another 3 days."

"I don't know then. Uncle Bucky? Are you and Aunt Natasha dating?"

Bucky looked up at Nat and she nodded. "Yeah. We are."

"Oh. Okay. Daddy, am I in trouble for going in the vents?"

Phil sighed. "You should be. I've told you a hundred times not to go in the vents. But you weren't playing and you were just trying to get to Steve. Next time tell me what you're doing because I lost you and got scared."

"I'm sorry, Daddy. Are you mad?"

"No, baby. I'm mot mad. Come get a hug." Clint ran into Phil's arms and hugged him tightly.

Bucky watched them, sadly. He wants to cuddle his baby! Natasha put her hand on Bucky's arm, comfortingly.

"It'll be okay," she promised him. "He loves you. He just needs to get used to this. Give him a few days." Bucky nodded and sighed.

\---

"Steve, come have a bath and get ready for bed," Bucky commanded. Steve ignored him again like he's been doing all day. "Steven Grant. Come on." He was ignored again. Bucky started to get upset and mad again, so Tony put his hand on his arm to calm him down.

"Steve, do you want to have a bath with Bruce?" Tony asked.

"Otay, Unca Tony." Steve stood up and followed Tony and Bruce to the bathroom.

"Steve hates me now, doesn't he?" Bucky frowned.

"He doesn't hate you, Bucky," Phil promised. "You've been best friends for your whole lives. He loves you. Just give him time." Bucky sighed. He doesn't want to, but he will.

\---

"Steve, wanna go see Tori?" Bucky asked. Steve looked up and nodded, acknowledging him for the first time in days! "Okay, baby. Let's get you dressed. Brucie's going to come with us." Steve looked over at Bruce who was reading and crawled to him. "Steve?"

"Bwucie?" Steve asked.

"Hey, Steve," Bruce smiled. "Do you want me to help you get ready?"

"Mhmm."

Bruce gave Bucky a sad smile and stood up with Steve, leading him to his bedroom. "Do you want to pick your clothes?" Steve nodded and crawled to his dresser. He eventually pulled out a green dinosaur shirt and matching pants.

"Bwucie match?" Steve asked, hopefully as he climbed onto the changing table. He forced Tony to get him and Brucie the same outfit.

"I'm not little right now," Bruce pointed out as he changed Steve's diaper and got him dressed.

"Pwease? Cute."

"Alright, alright." Steve cheered and followed Bruce to his room and watched him get changed.

"Yay!" Steve hugged Bruce tightly. "Go see Tori now? Us pway there. No Candy Land." Bruce blushed. He still hasn't passed the piece he swallowed. Tony said if he doesn't pass it by tomorrow, he's taking him to get an x-ray. "Bad Bwucie. No eat games." Steve smacked Bruce's butt.

"Ouch, Steve. Okay, I won't eat the games anymore. Tell Clint not to tell me about candy when I'm little." Bruce rubbed his butt and winced. "Come on, we're gonna be late." Steve grabbed Bruce's hand and dragged him into the elevator, walking straight past Bucky. Bucky grabbed the diaper bag and Bunny and followed them into the elevator.

"Steve, I know you're mad at me, but can you please talk to Tori about this? And then talk to me about it? I miss my baby," Bucky frowned. Steve glanced at Bucky before hugging Bruce. He misses his daddy too....

Bucky sighed. He hates not being acknowledged by his baby. "Bruce, I put a couple of your diapers and new pants in the diaper bag just incase. Can you get Steve in his car seat or do you need help?"

"I think I can do it," Bruce said. Steve climbed into his seat and allowed Bruce to buckle him in. "Good boy. High five!" Steve slapped Bruce's hand, smiling with his tongue poking out between his teeth. "Ready to go?" Steve nodded and Bruce hopped into the front seat, buckling himself in.

Once at S.H.I.E.L.D., Bucky followed Bruce and Steve into the elevator and made sure they got off on the right floor before going to see his own therapist. He's definitely going to talk to her about Steve....

"Bwucie, pway toys?" Steve asked after sitting for 3 minutes. He's bored!

"Okay, let's play. What do you want to play with?" Bruce asked. He followed Steve onto the floor where there were a bunch of toys for littles of all ages.

"Dino!" Steve picked up a little T-Rex action figure (matching the one on his shirt).

"Okay, Stevie." Bruce picked up a stegosaurus and managed to get sucked into a game with his cousin. They only stopped playing when Tori came out and tapped their shoulders.

"Ready to come talk to me?" She asked, gently. Steve shrugged, but nodded and stood up. He helped Bruce up next and held his hand while they followed Tori into the room. "Hello, Bruce, I'm Tori. It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too," Bruce smiled, politely, albeit slightly awkward. He's kind of forcing himself to stay big now, which Tony told him to never do, but oh well. Tony doesn't have to know. Bruce needs to be big to watch Steve and help out incase he has a panic attack or something.

"I hot," Steve announced, pouting. His puffy winter jacket is still on him.

"You two can take your jackets off if you want," Tori explained. "There's a coat rack in the corner behind you, Bruce." Bruce nodded and took Steve's jacket off first before his own, then he placed both jackets on the rack.

"Brucie!" Steve hugged his cousin tightly, pointing at their outfits. "We matches."

"I see," Tori smiled. "That's very cute." Bruce blushed while Steve smiled widely. "So what's been going on since I saw you?"

Steve's smile fell and he cuddled into Bruce's chest. "Daddy...."

"What happened with Daddy?"

"No."

"What do you mean 'no,' Steve?"

"Talk 'bouts it later?"

"Okay. Today, though, right?" Steve nodded and Tori copied him.

They talked about the differences in what Steve liked to do when he was little before, during, and after the war (play with daddy, play with his friends, play with his cousins, watch TV, play with toys, have cuddles with daddy) and about if Steve wishes he was still back in the 40's. Steve took a long time to answer no. When asked why he took so long to answer, he pressed his face into Bruce's chest and put his pacifier in his mouth.

"Okay. You don't have to tell me today. Why don't we talk about Daddy now? What happened?"

"Bwucie?" Steve whimpered around the pacifier (white with yellow stars).

"Steve, I think Tori wants _you_ to explain, not me," Bruce frowned, gently poking his cousin, which just made Steve whine and cuddle closer.

"It's alright for you to take over sometimes, Bruce. He talked a lot today, and he's going to talk even more, right?" Steve nodded into Bruce's chest. "Okay. So what happened?"

"Well...a few days ago we all went to the park together and when we came back I'm guessing Bucky put Steve in his room in the nursery for a nap. Tony was taking me to the playroom from my room and we saw Natasha and Bucky kissing. After that, we just heard Steve's door slam shut and he wouldn't come out or talk to anyone.... Well, until Clint crawled in through the vents. Steve still isn't talking to Bucky, though, and he barely even acknowledges him anymore. It's sad. Especially because I know they both really miss each other."

"Is this true, Steve?" Steve nodded. "Why don't you talk to Daddy then?"

"Because," Steve whimpered, then stopped. Tori gave him a minute to collect himself. Steve didn't talk again until Bruce poked him, and that was only to tell him to stop.

"Steve...honey, why don't you want to talk to Daddy anymore?" Tori asked, sweetly.

"No."

"Okay. How about you tell me how you feel about Daddy and your Aunt Natasha?"

"No."

"No you don't like it?" Steve nodded and Tori seemed happy to finally be getting somewhere with this, Bruce observed. "Why don't you like it?"

"Dada's dad...." Tori waited for a minute, but Steve didn't say anything else.

"What about him?"

"Leaved him...."

"And you think Daddy's going to leave you?" Steve nodded. "I don't think he'll do that, Steve. I can see how much he loves you and you both miss each other. You should talk to him about this when you get home."

"Otay," Steve whispered.

"Do you want to take a break now? We can play a game or with some toys."

"Toys?" Steve asked, excitedly. Tori nodded.

"Pick out what toys you want to play with." Steve stood up and ran to the toys, picking out all the dinosaurs and animals. Tori and Bruce sat on the floor with him. Steve hugged Bunny–who never left his hands once–close to chest.

"Bunny the king!" He announced, smiling.

"All hail the king!" Tori made a dog and a velociraptor exclaim. Steve giggled.

"What kind of king is Bunny?" Bruce asked. "Is he a nice one or is he mean?" Steve started explaining, only to stop when someone knocked on the door.

"I'll be right back. You two can stay here," Tori said. Steve nodded and continued his explanation, keeping one eye on Tori and the door.

Tori opened the door to see Bucky on the other side. "Hello," Bucky greeted. "I finished upstairs and I wanted to come check on Steve and Bruce."

"Okay," Tori said, smiling as she opened the door wider to invite him in. "We all just started playing with toys. Bunny is the king."

Bucky stepped inside and looked over at his baby, feeling his heart break even more when Steve didn't jump up to hug him. He didn't even look at him. "Steve, can I come play with you?" Steve nodded, still not looking up at him. It's a start. Bucky sat in between Bruce and Steve and picked up a tiger. Steve didn't scoot away like he usually does! "What are we playing, Stevie?"

"Bunny's da king," Steve explained. "He nice to animals onwy, but no likes Dinos, so is mean."

"Why is that?"

"Dino eated his mama, so no wikes dinos."

"That's so sad. No wonder he doesn't like dinosaurs." Steve hummed and hugged Bunny tightly. Steve didn't talk to Bucky again after that unless he was having Bunny talk to a toy Bucky had.

After playing for about half an hour, Tori had them stop when Steve started to whine and yawn a lot. "Steve, how do you feeling about being big right now and talking to me?" She asked.

"No pwease. Not today."

"Okay, Steve. You talked a lot. You did good. Maybe next time?"

"Pwomise." Steve nodded and helped to put the toys away before standing up and helping everyone up. "Bye-bye!" Steve hugged Bunny tightly and grabbed Bruce's hand to drag him out of the room. Bucky stayed back to talk to Tori.

"What did he say?" Bucky asked.

Tori sighed. "I want him to tell you. He said he would. If he doesn't talk to you, maybe ask Bruce. Steve is doing good here. He's talking a lot."

"Okay. Thank you. I'll email you about his next appointment."

"Okay. See you next time." Bucky said bye and went out to Steve and Bruce.

"Brucie is little now," Steve explained, looking up at Bucky.

"Okay, Stevie. Thank you for telling me that. Will you come with us to get Bruce in a diaper?" Steve hummed and followed Bucky and Bruce into the bathroom, carrying the diaper bag.

"Dada, 'an us talks at home?"

"Of course, baby boy! You can always talk to me about whatever you want to whenever you want. That's what Daddy's here for." Steve hummed again and stuck his pacifier in his mouth, telling Bucky he doesn't want to talk right now. "We can talk when we get home, Stevie."

Bucky quickly put Bruce in a diaper and got them home as quickly as he could. He misses talking to his baby so much and he actually wants to talk to him now! Once at the tower, Bucky and Steve dropped Bruce off with Phil and Clint (Tony had to leave for a few days for work), then they went up to Bucky's floor to talk.

"Not yet?" Steve asked around his pacifier.

Bucky got a bit upset, but nodded. "Whenever you're ready. How about we have some chocolate milk and watch a movie?" Steve nodded. "Pick a movie out while I get our milk."

Steve hugged Bear–who he got from his room in the nursery when dropping Bruce off–and thought hard about what he wants to watch. "Snow White, pwease, JARVIS?" He finally decided.

 _"Of course, Steven,"_ JARVIS said, putting the movie on the screen. He kept it paused until Bucky returned to the couch with chocolate milk.

After watching Snow White, having a nap, then watching Monsters Inc., Steve decided he was ready to talk.

"Dada.... 'member when you's dad leaveded you?"

"Yeah, I do." Bucky was 8, so he remembers. All he knows is that it was because his dad found someone else, so he left them all. "Steve...you don't think I'm going to leave you, do you?"

Steve shrugged, quietly. Bucky took his hands and Steve let him. Bucky squeezed his hands.

"That is the silliest thing I've ever heard. Yeah, I like Natasha, but I _love_ you. You're my baby boy and my _bestest_ friend _ever_! I could never leave you. Especially not for a girl."

Steve sniffled. He wishes he would have talked to Daddy about this sooner. Or, better yet, never thought of this in the first place. Of course Daddy wouldn't leave him! They promised each other they'd be there _to the end of the line_ when they were 6-years old!

"Sowwy, Dada," Steve sniffled, feeling his eyes well up with tears. Bucky pulled him into his arms and squeezed him tightly. He's missed this so much!

"You have nothing to be sorry for, baby. I'm sorry you found out about me and Nat like that. But, I will _never ever in a million years_ leave you. I promise. I love you."

"Love you, Daddy." Steve hiccuped and cuddled closer to his daddy's chest. "Miss you."

"I missed you too, babe. Next time you're upset with me for some reason, can you please talk to me about it sooner rather than later? I can't fix it if you don't talk to me, and then we'll both be sad."

"Otay. Pwomise, Daddy." Steve buried his face in Bucky's shoulder. Bucky kissed his forehead.

"How about we have a couple days to ourselves up here alone? We can watch movies and play whatever you want and have a bunch of cuddles and whatever you want to eat. Within reason, of course."

"Otay, Dada! Sound good!"

"Great. How about we go down to the nursery and get some of your stuff since I don't have much up here? Then we can come back and have dinner."

"Yeah, Daddy. Dino nuggets and Mac 'n cheese?"

"Sounds good to me." Bucky's found that little Steve is more likely to eat more when he thinks food is fun (using the spoon as an airplane doesn't work; Tony tried it once and it didn't end well). Dino nuggets are _super_ fun!

Steve held Daddy's hand tightly all the way down to the nursery. "Toys, Dada?"

"Sure, baby. Put what you want in a toy box and carry it up. I'll get your clothes and diapers. I have something for you when we get back upstairs."

"What is it?!" Steve gasped.

"You'll just have to wait and see, won't you?" Bucky tapped Steve's nose, making him go cross eyed.

"Daddy," Steve pouted when his eyes went back to normal. "Not nice."

"I'm sorry, baby. I'm still not telling you what's upstairs for you."

"Mean Dada."

"Let's hurry up, then, so you can go get your surprise."

"Otay! I 'an hewp carry."

"How about you carry your toy box and diaper bag? I'll take your clothes. Oh, and don't drop your diaper bag; you can rash cream and baby powder in there and I don't want them to break and get all over everything."

"Otay, Dada. I careful." Steve grabbed the diaper bag and his toy box and ran to the elevator. Bucky didn't worry about the elevator closing without him in it; JARVIS knows not to let anyone be in the elevator alone while little. Even though Bucky knows he doesn't have to worry, he still tried to hurry up.

Minutes later, they were both back on Bucky's floor. Bucky placed Steve's clothes on his bed, deciding to put them away later. He should really keep some of Steve's little stuff up here if he's ever little here again. He'll work on that later.

"Do you want your surprise now, baby?" Bucky asked.

Steve nodded, eagerly. "Yes, Dada, yes!"

"Okay, just hold on a second. And close your eyes." Steve shut his eyes tightly and Bucky grabbed something from his room. He sat next to his baby and gave him a super tight hug and kissed his cheek. "My therapist gave me this jacket today. Do you remember it?" Bucky showed Steve the jacket, frowning when he saw Steve shrink into the corner of the couch.

"Daddy weared it on plane...." Steve whimpered and started shaking slightly. Bucky quickly put the jacket behind him and decided to _never_ wear it around Steve.

"Yeah, I did. And guess what I found in the pocket? Hmm?"

"Ice?"

"No, baby, I didn't find ice in the pocket. I found this." Bucky took a blanket out of the pocket.

"Bwankie...." Steve reached for it, petting the soft material. He took the blanket and bursted into sobs, making Bucky panic slightly. Should he not have given him his baby blanket back? He was right to give it to him, right? Steve's been missing it since he woke up nearly three months ago!

"Steve, what's wrong, baby boy?"

"Miss Mama!" Steve cried into Bucky's chest. "Don't want a new Ma."

"I know you miss her, baby. I miss her too. And my ma and my siblings. Nobody said you're getting a new ma though."

"Daddy have girlfriend," Steve cried. Bucky sighed.

"I do have a girlfriend, Steve, but that doesn't automatically make her your ma. Natasha is perfectly happy just being your aunt. I'm happy how we all are too. I like our little family. And if Nat and I ever broke up, it would be kind of like us getting a divorce for you, and we wouldn't want to do that to you."

Steve nodded, but continued crying.

"Hey," Bucky whispered, poking Steve's cheek. "How about you stop crying and come help me make dinner. Maybe we can even have some cookies for dessert."

"Okay, Daddy." Steve sniffled and bit his lip to keep from crying. He rubbed his face against his blankie and leaned into Daddy's chest.

"I love you, Steve."

"Love you, Daddy." Bucky smiled and hugged Steve tightly. He missed hearing him say that.

"Let's go make dinner, babe."

"Dino nuggets."

"Yes, baby, we're going to have Dino nuggets. And Mac and cheese."

"Yay!" Steve ran to the kitchen with his daddy and did everything he was told to do so he could help with dinner.

Once dinner was ready, Steve set Bear and Bunny down in chairs at the table before he climbed into his highchair (which Tony insisted they have one up here just incase).

"Dinos, Dada!"

"I know, Stevie. Just a minute. How about we take your shirt off so you don't get ketchup on your dinosaur shirt and stain it?" Bucky suggested.

Steve gasped and quickly nodded, throwing his hands up in the air. Bucky carefully took his baby's shirt off and put the tray on the highchair. "Juice pwease, Daddy."

"Okay, baby. Start with your nuggets and I'll get you juice and Mac and cheese." Steve nodded and grabbed a chicken nugget when his plate was placed on the tray.

Halfway through dinner, Steve gave up on using a fork for his macaroni and got tired of eating a few bites later, choosing to make his dino nuggets fight and drown in the Mac and cheese lava.

"Stevie," Bucky sighed. "Don't play with your food. You're supposed to eat it."

"Sowwy, Dada. I full."

"Well, you're going to sit there until I finish, Mr. Ketchup Hands, and then you need a bath."

"Daddy bath too?"

"Daddy will take a bath with you if you eat two more nuggets and three more bites of macaroni."

Steve pouted, but ate a little more than was required to make his daddy happy.

"Good boy. Here's a towel. Clean your hands and face a bit while I clean the dishes."

"Daddy, have music?"

"Sure. JARVIS, put on kids music, please." _The Wheels On The Bus_ began playing and Steve smiled and sang while he cleaned his hands and tray. "Such a good boy," Bucky smiled. "Thank you for cleaning your tray for Daddy. Let's go get a bath now."

Steve followed Bucky into the bathroom and poked the water pouring out of the faucet while Bucky got them both ready for the bath. "Bath crayons?"

"Of course, baby. Get in the tub and I'll get your bath crayons."

Steve was leaning against Bucky's chest, coloring on the walls within two minutes.

"Somebody's getting sleepy," Bucky teased, poking Steve's side when he yawned 10 minutes into the bath. Steve sat up, blinking hard.

"No, Daddy. Colorin'."

"Yeah? What are you coloring, baby?"

"Colorin'." Bucky smiled and pulled Steve back into his chest for a few more minutes before they both turned into raisins.

"Let's get cleaned up and get ready for bed now," Bucky suggested. Steve whined, pouting when his crayons were taken away and replaced with a rubber duck. "Come on, baby. Daddy's tired too."

"Otay, then," Steve yawned widely. Steve sat still while Bucky got them cleaned and out of the tub into warm, fuzzy towels and then a diaper for Steve and boxers for Bucky.

"Open your mouth, baby. You gotta brush your teeth."

The two were in bed a few minutes later, falling asleep to lullabies (courtesy of JARVIS) in their diapers and boxers, too sleepy to get dressed, but also not really caring. They're both just happy to be close again.


	12. Chapter 9 Bonus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's 1 AM while I'm uploading this. I'm dying from Sherlock (which I watched like 4 hours ago but I'm still dying) and now I'm just watching Bo Burnham on YouTube....  
> ANYWAY: since it's technically Monday now I figured why not upload this bonus from the last chapter (I'm not happy with this bonus or with Bucky's therapist tbh (Tori is better), but whatever)   
> I'm sorry this is short and terrible I just...tears. I go back to school tomorrow (Tuesday) so I'm going to write as much as chapter 10 as I can today, but I may or may not finish it.. I have absolutely no idea what I'm saying now so I'm gonna go to bed (after this video I swear). Goodnight, happy 2017, good luck with your lives, and enjoy this bonus chapter (my new years resolution: fucking write better loser)  
> PS: words

Bucky dropped Steve and Bruce off on Steve's therapist's floor, before stepping back into the elevator. He clicked the button for his own, biting his lip so he doesn't break down in the elevator. It was hard to not start crying, but he managed it until he stepped into Sandy's room.

"Hello, James," Sandy whispered, helping him out of his jacket and wrapping a blanket around his shoulders instead. "What are those tears for?"

"S-Steve," Bucky choked out.

"What happened with Steve?"

"He hates me!"

Sandy frowned as she helped Bucky onto the couch. "Why do you say that?"

"Because I know he does. He hasn't t-talked to m-me in days! And-and he barely ack-acknowledges me."

"How come? Take a minute to calm down and then start from the beginning, please." Bucky sucked in a deep breath and held it for several seconds before letting it out. He repeated the process four times and he was finally calm enough to talk without stuttering.

"The other day Phil, Tony, and I took the kids to the park to play in the snow. When we got back I put Steve down for a nap and went back out to the playroom with the intention of cleaning up a bit. Well, Natasha was there and I gave her a kiss to say hi. Then the door slammed shut and Steve hasn't talked to me since. He hates me."

"I don't think he hates you, James. He might be upset with you for not telling him about you and Natasha, but there's no way he hates you."

Bucky shook his head no, disagreeing. "He's mad at me and he hates me. He'll never talk to me again."

"James, I think you might be exaggerating a bit. Just give him time to get used to this. He'll talk to you when he's ready."

"He'll never be ready," Bucky mumbled. Sandy sighed and told Bucky to be patient, that Steve just needs time to adjust to the idea of his daddy/best friend not being exclusively his and having to share him. Bucky wiped his eyes and curled into a ball on the couch.

"Give Steve a few more days. Then you can try to talk to him about this again. Or, if he's big later talk to him then." Bucky hummed. "How about we talk about how you're adjusting to living in the tower?"

Bucky hasn't been to see Sandy since before he moved into the tower. They've talked on the phone a few times, but talking on the phone and talking in person is very different. On the phone you can say anything, but in person, you can see the lie on a person's face.

"It's goin' okay there. Everyone was really welcoming. Tony's kind of an ass sometimes, but never in front of the kids. Phil and I get along well enough. We talk about our naughty babies and have fun embarrassing them. Bruce likes to be alone when he's big, but he seems to like me. Everyone does besides Steve...."

"James, Steve loves you. I can tell you're thinking about ending your relationship with Natasha; don't. Steve just needs to get used to you two dating. Don't end your relationship because a 2-year old doesn't want to share his daddy."

"But I miss him."

"I know you do. Maybe he'll be willing to talk to you about Natasha when he's big."

"Maybe." Bucky shrugged and pulled the blanket tighter around his shoulders.

"I have something for you. Your doctor here gave it to me yesterday."

Bucky's face contorted, confused. "What is it?" He asked. He watched Sandy get up and retrieve something from a box behind her chair.

She brought over a very familiar jacket. Bucky swallowed. "Is that...?" He asked.

"You were wearing this when the plane crashed," Sandy explained. Bucky reached towards it and Sandy handed it over. Bucky stuck his hand in the pockets and sighed relieved when he felt a little blanket in it. Steve's blanket.... Maybe he won't hate him anymore if he gives him his baby blanket.

"Thank you for giving me this."

"You're welcome, James," Sandy smiled. "Is there anything else you want to talk about?"

"No. I'm going to go check on Steve and Bruce."

"Alright. It was good to see you again. I hope everything works out with Steve; just give him a bit of time."

"Okay. Thank you. I'll email you about my next appointment later."

"Okay, James. Bye." Bucky stood up with his jackets and smiled at Sandy as he stepped out of her room and into the elevator. He's going to put his jacket from the crash in the trunk so Steve doesn't see it. Bucky doesn't know how he'll react to it, but he'd rather give him his blanket back at home.

Hopefully Steve will let him talk to him and give him his blanket....


	13. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm not back 100% yet, but it's been a while and this chapter is done so   
> (It's still Monday somewhere, I can still update today >>)

Steve woke up way too early the next morning, feeling very big. He knows Bucky probably wanted to spend time with him today while he's little, but he's not in a little mood today and he's a horrible actor. Steve is sure Bucky won't be too upset about him being big today. Hopefully.... He hates making Bucky upset no matter what his mental age is.

Steve carefully slid out of his best friend's arms, sitting up and wincing at the wet diaper. He climbed out of bed and grabbed a pair of underwear and a t-shirt from his drawer and went to the bathroom.

Bucky and Steve have a drawer for each other full of the other's clothes on both their floors. Steve actually has an entire bedroom for Bucky on his. He'd be worried that it's dusty if Tony hadn't told him he has people that come and clean all the rooms in the tower once a week.

After cleaning himself up and putting his shirt and underwear on, Steve climbed back into bed with Bucky. It's only 5 o'clock; he can go back to sleep for a few hours. Bucky let out a loud snore as he pulled Steve back into his arms. Steve smiled and cuddled into his friend's chest, quickly falling back to sleep.

\---

Next time Steve woke up, he felt the bed shaking and he panicked for a second before realizing it was just Bucky shaking the bed.

"Bucky," Steve whined, holding onto his blanket tightly.

"Hey, Stevie. It's late; you gotta wake up now," Bucky explained, gently rubbing his friend's leg.

"I don't wanna. I'm tired."

"Come on, Stevie. Wake up. I made waffles."

"And bacon?" Steve cracked an eye open and looked at Bucky who hummed and nodded. "Okay then. I just gotta pee first. Get me orange juice, please?"

"Alright, buddy. Hurry up, though or there might not be any bacon left."

Steve shot out of bed and ran into the bathroom. Bucky chuckled and shook his head gently, smiling. He stood up and went back to the kitchen, pouring orange juice into a glass for Steve and got himself coffee. Thanks to Tony for introducing him to coffee. Bucky loves it. It doesn't actually affect him that much, but it's good.

"What are we doing today, Bucky?" Steve wondered, grabbing bacon. Bacon is another one of the few things Steve is always willing to eat, along with Mac and cheese, chocolate chip cookies, and pretty much any kind of ice cream.

"Whatever you want, Stevie!" Bucky smiled at his best friend who smiled back through a mouthful of bacon and waffles.

Steve swallowed his mouthful before speaking. "Can-can I paint you? I miss sitting with you in the quiet and painting."

"Of course you can! Oh, Tony said if you give him a couple of your drawings he'll get you into an art school."

"I don't know...."

"Think about it. There's no deadline. Just talk to Tony about it whenever you decide or if you decide something and in a few months or years or whatever you change your mind."

"Alright, Bucky." Steve smiled at his friend, standing up to clear their dishes.

"We can wash those later. Just wash the syrup off your mouth and we can go to your floor and you can paint, alright?" Steve blushed as he washed the syrup off his face. He's an adult right now, he shouldn't be getting covered in syrup when he eats! That's embarrassing!

Steve grabbed his friend's hand, bouncing impatiently as the elevator brought them both to his floor. Steve dragged Bucky to his art room and pulled out a stool and an easel. He set the stool down in front of the easel and forced Bucky to sit on it.

"Shall I strike a pose for you?" Bucky teased, posing ridiculously.

Steve giggled and shook his head no. "No. Just sit there and look at me; I need to get your face right."

"Alright. Want me to make a face or just stare at you like a zombie?"

Steve shivered slightly. He watched something with Clint and Tony a few weeks ago with zombies in it and it scared him really bad. Steve hates zombies! "Um cover your mouth with your hand like this," Steve demonstrated by pulling his hand into the sweater he pulled on earlier and putting his hand in front of his face, "and look at a random tile on the floor. I want to get the outline done and then you can read or something."

"How about I read you some Harry Potter? We're nearly halfway through the second book!"

"Okay, Bucky. That sounds good." Steve smiled at his friend brightly.

"Alright. I'm gonna run up to the nursery and grab the book. I'll be right back."

Steve hummed and set about gathering the paints, brushes, and pencils he would use while painting while Bucky got the book.

\---

"Bucky?" Steve yawned, waking up from a nap. He finished (almost) three paintings before he got too sleepy to do anymore and started falling asleep. Bucky stopped reading when he heard sleepy whimpers coming from his friend and took him to have a nap in his room while he did other important things.

Steve sat up, rubbing sleep from his eyes. He feels a bit more little now, but he's still just on this side of big. He should probably tell Bucky, but he's sure everything will be fine. He can usually stay big when he's like this unless something scares him or triggers him into being little.

He got out of bed and tiptoed out of his room to see Bucky half asleep on the couch, trying to do some kind of paperwork. Steve smiled slightly as he continued past into his art room.

His first painting was of Bucky looking innocent in a too big sweater that was the same blue-gray color as his eyes.

The next one was his version of Nearly Headless Nick pulling his head [nearly] off his neck. Bucky said not to show that one to his cousins when they're little because it might scare them.

The final painting was himself and Bucky in Hogwarts. Steve decided that if they went to Hogwarts, Bucky'd probably be in Slytherin, so Bucky is wearing Slytherin robes. Steve couldn't decide between himself being in Hufflepuff or Gryffindor (Bucky insisted he's a Gryffindor, but Steve's just not sure), so instead he had himself sitting in plain robes with the sorting hat on his head. Bucky's looking at Steve with a face that says he'll be proud of him no matter what house he's placed into. Bucky gives him that look outside of his paintings all the time, so it was easy for Steve to recreate it from memory.

Steve completed the finishing touches on all his paintings (add some shading, a bit of a background, etc.) and voila! He finished as Bucky came in to tell him lunch is ready.

"Okay, Bucky!" Steve smiled as he cleaned up his brushes and put everything away.

"Looks like you got a bit of paint on yourself, Stevie," Bucky commented, chuckling.

Steve looked down at himself, glad he thought to put a plain t-shirt on instead of that sweater before he continued painting. When he's completely big, he's usually pretty good about not getting covered in paint, but when he's feeling like he is now (a bit more little now than when he first woke up), getting covered in paint is inevitable.

"Got some on your face too, bud. Come here. Lunch can wait a minute." Bucky led his friend into the bathroom and wet a wash cloth. Steve pulled away when Bucky tried to wash his face.

"Let me do it, please? I'm not feelin' so big no more. I want to be big. I won't be if you wash me."

"Okay, Steve. Here. I'll get you a paint-free shirt to change into too. I'll leave it on your bed. What do you want to drink?"

"Water's fine. Thanks, Buck."

"No problem." Bucky smiled at his friend, squeezing his shoulder before walking out. Steve turned to face the mirror and saw the streaks of green and blue and black on his cheeks and chin. He looks like he was in a fight and lost. Which has never happened. (He doesn't feel that any of his fights when he was small in Brooklyn were lost; had he run away, he would've lost, but he never ran. He always won even when he lost.)

Steve got paint on his shirt and pants, so he took them off and tossed them down the laundry shoot before washing all the paint off himself. (How he got paint on his stomach, he will never know.) Finally, Steve walked to his room, not at all minding about being in his underwear. It's only Bucky here and he's seen a lot worse things than Steve in train underwear. (Phil had already ordered him underwear when he decided he didn't want to wear them while little, but that's no reason not to wear them while he's big; they're cute and comfortable and he likes them.)

Steve blushed at the pull-up Bucky put on top of his clothes. Everyone knows it's better to be safe than sorry when Steve (or anybody who has a little side that wears diapers) is on the verge of being big or little. Steve still hates wearing diapers and pull-ups while he's big, though. Finally sighing, Steve removed his underwear and put the pull-up on. He's pretty sure he won't have any accidents, but Bucky is really good at predicting if he'll need a pull-up or not, and if he thinks Steve should wear one right now, then alright. Steve definitely doesn't want to have an accident and have to get cleaned up. Steve put the plain black t-shirt on and gray sweatpants. These pull-ups are slightly thicker than Clint's, and Clint can't completely hide the slight bulginess of his pull-ups under jeans (not that Clint wears pull-ups and jeans often; only if he goes out while he's little and it might be difficult to get to a bathroom), so Steve is thankful to have sweatpants that cover his pull-up.

"What's for lunch, Bucky?" Steve wondered, walking into the kitchen.

"Turkey and cheese sandwiches and potato chips," Bucky replied, not so subtly patting Steve's butt to confirm he put the pull-up on. Bucky wasn't expecting Steve to ignore it, but you never know with him. "I made you one sandwich, but you can have more if you want." Steve ate a lot at breakfast, so he's not expecting him to eat much now. He'll probably eat more at dinner.

"That sounds good. Thank you for lunch, Bucky." Steve smiled and Bucky returned the gesture.

After eating, Bucky put all his paperwork away while Steve did the dishes (he insisted since Bucky always does everything for him). "So what are we doing now, Stevie?" Bucky asked when Steve joined him on the couch.

"Um...." Steve knows what he wants to do, but he's about 99% sure he's too big for that.

"Hmm? We can do anything you want."

Steve shook his head no. "I'm too big."

"Well what do you want to do?" 

"I'm too big to want to make a fort...."

"No you're not. I don't think so, at least. Making a fort sounds awesome! Let's do it." Bucky smiled largely at his friend.

"Really?"

"Yeah! We'll make a huge fort! I'll get the sheets and blankets from my floor and we can use the ones here too."

Steve smiled. "Can we watch a movie and have popcorn in it after?"

"Of course! That sounds awesome! Come on, let's get as many sheets and blankets as we can find. We can use the blankets to lay on."

"Okay, Da-Bucky." Bucky rubbed Steve's back for a second. Steve is clearly trying to stay big, but it doesn't seem to be working as much as he'd like. Bucky doesn't care how big or little Steve is, though, as long as he's happy. But if he's little, he doesn't want him to be alone.

"Do you want to come help me?"

"No, it's okay, Bucky."

"You sure?"

"Mhmm. I'll be okay alone for a few minutes. And JARVIS is here! He'll tell you if something happens."

"Alright, buddy. Let's go get those blankets and get started on this fort."

\---

"Juice please, Dada?" Steve asked as he munched on his popcorn in the fort. They just finished the fort and Bucky brought popcorn and his laptop into the fort. Bucky smiled slightly and kissed his baby's forehead. He tried to stay big all day, but he couldn't do it. It's hard for him to stay big for a long time after being little so much. Bucky doesn't blame him.

"Of course, baby." Bucky stood up in the fort (they made it tall enough that even they could stand in it!) and went to the kitchen.

Steve quickly put his popcorn to the side and crawled to the opening of the fort. "Dada, can have my Mickey cuppie?" Tony bought Steve and Bruce Mickey Mouse sippy cups when they became obsessed with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

"Yeah, baby. Think of a movie you want to watch and I'll put it on when I get back."

"Otay, Dada. Bring me Bear and Bunny too, pwease?"

"You're pushin' it, kid," Bucky teased, ruffling his baby's hair. Steve giggled and pushed his daddy away. "Don't eat all the popcorn before I get back."

"No pwomises, Dada!" Steve crawled back to the popcorn and grabbed a handful. He already knows he wants to watch 101 Dalmatians.

Bucky returned a few minutes later with the diaper bag (containing a few diapers, wipes, powder, cream, and a change of clothes and pajamas), a water bottle, a sippy cup of apple juice, a bunch of Steve's teddy bears, and Steve's baby blanket.

"Daddy!" Steve squealed, throwing his hands up in the air.

"Hey, baby. Can you lay down so I can get you changed?"

"Yes, Daddy." Bucky sat down next to his baby and took all the diapering supplies out of the diaper bag. Bucky handed Steve his blanket and Bunny before stripping him down to the soggy pull-up. He changed the baby into a diaper and threw the pull-up into the garbage before washing his hands and coming back to get Steve dressed.

"Daddy, wear puppy onesie?"

"You don't wanna wear your footie pajamas?"

"No, Dada. Too hot for those in here."

"Okay, baby. Is your Winnie the Pooh onesie okay? The puppy one is in the nursery."

"Yeah, Dada. Like Winnie!"

"Alright. Sit up so I can get you dressed, then." Steve sat up and put his arms straight up so Daddy could dress him. "Such a good boy. I love you, baby."

"Love you too, Daddy! Lots!" Steve hugged his daddy tightly.

"Did you decide what movie you wanna watch?"

"Dalmatians."

"Okay, baby. Let me put the movie on and then we can cuddle and eat popcorn."

"Okay, Dada! And then have bedtime?"

"It's gonna be too early for bedtime, baby. This movie, dinner, two more movies, and then bedtime."

"Okay, Daddy," Steve pouted. "Can us has lasagna?"

"Yeah, babe. I'll order our dinner later."

"Okay, Daddy. Cuddles now?"

"Yeah, baby." Bucky pulled Steve into his arms as the movie started.

\---

Steve shot up in the middle of the night, looking around confused. Why is he awake? He looked over at his daddy through the dim light provided by JARVIS and sighed, sleepily. Steve rubbed his eyes and yawned, snuggling back down into his daddy. He was nearly asleep when–

_**BOOM** _

Steve shot up again, breathing heavy. A flash of light lit up the room seconds later. The little light from JARVIS went out and Steve immediately started sobbing.

"Daddy! Daddy, uppy, uppy now!" Steve screamed and dove into Bucky's chest.

"Hey, what'sa matter, baby?" Bucky groaned, barely awake.

"Daddy!" Steve yelped as there was another crash of thunder.

Bucky sighed, finally understanding. Steve's always been afraid of storms; being in the dark is one of his worst fears. Combining the two is going to be a living hell until the light comes on and the storm stops.

"Dada! Scary!"

"I know, baby boy, I know. C'mere. I'll put light on my phone, okay? Here. Is that any better?" Steve hummed and stuck his pacifier in his mouth.

"Daddy, wanna see cousins and uncles and Aunt Tasha.... Just a minute?"

"Okay, baby. As soon as the power turns back on. The elevator won't work without power." Bucky bundled his baby up in blankets and held him on his hip, bouncing with Steve's face angled away from the window. Steve held Bear and Bunny tightly, rubbing his baby blanket against his face and sucking on his pacifier, hiccuping every few seconds while tears continued to pour from his eyes.

A few seconds after the next big clap of thunder, the lights went back on and the windows were blacked out. "JARVIS?" Bucky asked, hopeful.

_"Yes, master Barnes. I apologize; it takes a minute for the backup generator to start up when there is a power outage at the tower. I have blacked out all of the windows and completely soundproofed the tower at Phil and Clint's request."_

"Thanks, J," Bucky sighed, kissing Steve's forehead as he finally started to calm down. "Is anyone up in the nursery?"

_"Yes, everyone except for Sir is awake and in the nursery; Master Stark is still away on business."_

"Okay. Bring us down there, please."

_"Of course, sir."_

JARVIS opened the elevator and sent it down to the nursery after Bucky stepped in with Steve on his hip. Once the doors opened again, Bucky stepped out and had his baby taken from him by Clint.

Steve cried loudly. He hadn't even realized that they were in the nursery and he was suddenly plucked out of Daddy's arms and he _knows_ it's still storming outside even if he can't see or hear it; what if the storm is taking him from Daddy?!

Clint looked at the sobbing bundle of blankets in his arms, frightened. Steve has never cried like this when he held him before! What does he do?

"Clint, let Bucky take him," Phil sighed. It's 2 in the morning and he's _exhausted_. He woke up to a screaming, crying baby, and a few minutes later, had a screaming, crying 5-year old on his lap, trying to push the baby off him. He's glad Natasha is here to help. She had been comforting Clint until he ran out of her arms and snatched up his little cousin.

Clint quickly handed his cousin off to Bucky and backed up into Phil's arms, nearly making him drop Bruce. The baby got scared and started sobbing again.

"We're all a bunch of hot messes," Bucky commented. He shifted Steve onto his hip and gently bounced him until he calmed down while Phil did the same with Bruce. "You're okay, baby boy. All calm now? Hmm?"

Steve hummed sleepily and sat up to look at his family. "Bwucie," he frowned, seeing his baby cousin still crying. "Otay?"

"Bruce is fine, Steve," Phil promised. "He got scared before, but now he's just overtired and he wants Tony."

"When Uncle Tony home?"

"A few days. Bruce will be fine."

"Clinty?"

"I'm okay, Stevie," Clint insisted. "I'm a big boy, so I wasn't scared of the storm or nothin'!"

"Lies," Natasha mumbled, pulling Clint into her arms.

"Not lyin', Auntie Nat! I just-"

"Cwint? I always scared storms. Dada say it's otay to be scared."

"Fine. I _might_ have been a _little_ bit scared.... Can I hug you, Stevie?" Clint is never going to pluck Steve out of Bucky's arms ever again.

"Wanna stay wif Dada," Steve whispered, afraid of making his cousin sad. He does miss him, but he just wants Daddy!

"So no hugs?" Clint pouted.

"How about we just do this?" Bucky stepped forward and lifted Clint onto his other hip. Clint held tightly to his uncle's shoulder, steadying himself before leaning forward to hug Steve. Steve hugged back and kissed Clint's cheek. "There ya go. Good boys. It's late now, so we'd better all go back to sleep. Phil looks like he might start crying if he doesn't get back to sleep soon...."

"Please, let's all go back to bed," Phil yawned. "I'll be able to handle drama better tomorrow after I've had my full 8 hours of sleep and a cup of coffee."

"What drama, Daddy?!" Clint pouted, wriggling in Bucky's arms until he was placed on his feet.

"Everyone in this room is a drama queen. And now I'm going to back away before Nat decides to decapitate me...." Phil backed away slowly from Natasha's glare. She doesn't appreciate being called a drama queen.

"Night night, Uncle Phil. Night, Brucie!" Steve called.

"Daddy, hugs and kisses! And a story too, please?" Clint begged, following his daddy. He quickly turned back around and said goodnight to the other three in the room before continuing to chase after his daddy.

Finally, it was just Steve, Bucky, and Natasha. Bucky winced slightly at the awkward silence. "Aunt Tasha...I'm sowwy," Steve finally broke the silence.

"What are you sorry for, buddy?" She asked.

"For was mad. S'not your fault."

"That's alright, Steve. You don't have to be sorry; has Daddy ever dated someone before while you two were in this relationship?"

Steve isn't actually sure. He knows Daddy's spent the night with women before (having pillow fights, he thinks; the door was always locked and Daddy never told him anything when he'd ask in the morning), but he never met those women. He doesn't even know if it was all the same woman or not. He doesn't think so. "No?" He finally answered in a question.

"So it's brand new to you; having someone else your daddy cares about. In a way that's not just how a friend cares about someone."

"S'otay, Aunt Tasha. Share." Natasha smiled at Steve and hugged him. She's so glad Steve doesn't hate her! She was sure he would.

"You make it sound like I'm a toy your sharing with one of your cousins, Steve," Bucky pointed out.

"Sowwy, Dada. Love you lots." Steve kissed his daddy's cheek, then yawned.

"I agree. Let's go back to bed."

"Aunt Tasha come play in fort tomorrow?"

"I would love to, Steve," Natasha smiled.

"Yay." Steve didn't seem very enthusiastic, but it's understandable. It's hard to be enthusiastic when you're tired, and it's over 5 hours past your bedtime.

"Alright. We'll see you tomorrow, Nat. Goodnight. Stevie, say 'goodnight.'"

"Nhhh," Steve said, resting his head on Daddy's shoulder. Bucky smiled at him and gently patted his back.

"Goodnight, Steve. Sleep good," Natasha whispered. "Night, Bucky."

"Night, Nat." Bucky kissed his girlfriend before stepping into the elevator. "Alright. Diaper time, then bed. At long last." Steve let out a gentle snore. "Agreed."

\---

"Daddy, when's Aunt Tasha comin'?"

"Dunno," Bucky mumbled into his pillow. "Wh' time'sit?"

 _"It is currently 7:23 AM,"_ JARVIS stated.

"Steve, come back to bed. It's too early. Nat's still gonna be asleep too."

"Not tired no more, Dada."

"Well I am. Come lay down with me. Close your eyes and be quiet and you'll be sleeping again before you know it." Bucky yawned loudly, trying to pull Steve into his arms. Steve wasn't having it.

"No, Dada! Uppy!"

Bucky groaned and pushed himself up onto one arm. He narrowed his eyes at Steve. "Let's make a deal."

"Deal?"

"Yeah. Wanna hear it?" Steve hummed and nodded. "Okay. So, I'll change your diaper and set you up with a little snack in the living room. You can watch Netflix on my laptop and play with your toys in the fort. And you'll let me sleep for another hour. When I get up, I'll make pancakes and bacon."

"Okay, Daddy!" Steve smiled widely. He'll do anything if you promise him bacon.

"Great. Let's get moving." Ten minutes later, Steve was settled in the fort with a bowl of cut up bananas and strawberries and blueberries while _The Little Prince_ played on Daddy's laptop. Bucky curled up on the armchair and was asleep within seconds.

\---

"JARVIS tell Aunt Tasha to come now?" Steve asked as soon as the movie ended. Bucky is still asleep and Steve wants to play.

 _"I cannot do that without permission from your daddy,"_ JARVIS explained.

"I go see her then?"

 _"You are not allowed to travel between floors alone while little."_ Steve whined. _"If I may.... Your daddy appears to be waking up now, so perhaps you could wait a few minutes before you attempt to go off on your own and get lost and in trouble."_

Steve glared at the speakers in the room. "Not get twouble or lost."

_"I recommend you just wait. I predict it will take another 3 minutes for him to wake up."_

"Fine!" Steve threw his arms out, dramatically and hit one of the chairs holding the fort up. His eyes widened, knowing what's about to happen. He shrieked as half the fort fell down on him. Steve started thrashing around, trying to free himself, but he couldn't do it and began crying. "Daddy! Hewp!"

Bucky shot up and rubbed sleep from his eyes while his still half asleep brain tried to process what happened.

"Daddy!" Came a pitiful cry from under all the blankets. Bucky's eyes widened and he flew out of the chair and over to the fort. He lifted up the blankets to see Steve laying there crying.

"Oh, baby," Bucky frowned. "Come out here." Steve quickly got to his hands and knees and crawled out before the fort could attack him again. Bucky put the blankets back over the chair, fixing the fort, then scooped Steve up into his arms. "Hey, baby.... You okay?"

"Dada," Steve sniffled, pressing his face against Bucky's neck.

"It's alright, baby. Daddy's here. Wanna go help me make breakfast? Well, brunch?"

"Yah." Steve sniffed and rubbed his face. "Aunt Tasha come for brunch?"

"Sure, baby. JARVIS will let her know, right?" Steve looked at the ceiling until JARVIS confirmed this.

"Otay. Bacon?"

"Of course! Come on; let's get started, baby boy."

\---

"Stevie, where are you, baby?" Bucky called when he finished putting food on the table.

"Here, Dada!" Steve exclaimed, popping up from behind the couch.

"What are you doing there, baby?"

"Colorin'."

"Yeah? What are you coloring?" Steve shrugged and went back to his paper and crayons. "Alright. Well, let's go get you in a clean diaper and have brunch. JARVIS, let Natasha in when she gets here, please."

Steve stood up and followed Bucky to the bedroom, laying down on the bed next to the diapering supplies. Bucky pulled Steve's pants off and quickly changed the damp diaper.

"Bacon?"

"Yes, baby, let's go have bacon. You're gonna eat some pancakes too, right?"

"Yes, Dada. Notta lot, though."

"You eat as much as you can, okay, baby?" Steve hummed and nodded, grabbing Daddy's hand and walking out to the kitchen where Natasha was sitting at the table.

"Hey, Stevie," Natasha smiled.

"Hi, Aunt Tasha!" Steve greeted. "We made bacon!"

"I see that! It looks good, buddy."

"What us gonna do t'day, Aunt Tasha?"

"Whatever you want, Steve."

"Movies and toys?"

"Sounds like a plan!" Steve smiled and sat in his seat, taking a piece of bacon and shoving it in his mouth.

\---

"Bucky, did you see this drawing Steve made?" Natasha asked when Steve had gone down for a nap later in the day.

Bucky shook his head and sat next to Natasha, excited to see what Steve drew. He's such a good artist and he loves seeing what he draws.

He didn't love this drawing so much....

Bucky gently took the paper, looking down at it horrified. It's a drawing of Steve as Captain America encased in a block of ice.

"Oh, Steve," Bucky whispered sadly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PS: I started a little one shot thing a few days ago for this story. There's currently (as of 2/21/17) two one shots up now (both about Little!Steve) but I'm working on a (Little!Clint) one that should hopefully be up on Friday  
> PPS: The chapter for THIS that I'm currently writing is very long... like, already 9500+ words and it's not quite finished yet... I don't know if I should split that chapter into two or leave it long as hell... thoughts?  
> PPPS: I'm sorry this (and the two chapters after this) are confusing and make no sense. Apparently my body only likes writing at 1 AM and I just can't bring myself to edit anything...  
> 4xPS: I've got plans for one chapter after the long one and then it'll be Avengers movie time (AKA I'm gonna skip writing the entire movie bc I don't feel like it and I'll just say "hey here's Thor and maybe Loki if you think he should be a character I really don't know yet")  
> Alright. I have school in like 6 hours (kill me please) so I should sleep. I'll probably write some tomorrow in school bc I'm a fast test taker and books don't hold my attention for as long as I'd like... ANYWAYS. I swear these notes are longer than the damn chapters (not that I think more than 2-3 people read them but eh) please let me know your thoughts on if I should keep the chapter I'm writing 10000+ words or split it in half and if I should bring Loki in bc I know what I would do w/him but idk if people want him... I don't really care either way, whatever the majority of votes say is what will happen (look my grammar is becoming trash bc of how tired I am... you get what I'm trying to say... goodnight, I'm sorry this chapter is bad, but thank you for reading anyway, thank you for waiting so long for this trash chapter, and thank you for suffering through this long ass note (assuming you've made it this far...goodnight))


	14. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: panic attack (let me know if I should add any, but I think that's it)

_"Bucky, take my hand! I got you!" Steve pulled Bucky back onto the train and they sat on the floor, hiding behind boxes, catching their breath. Steve was clinging to Bucky tightly and shaking, pressing his face into his neck and sitting practically on his lap. "Never do that again. You can't leave me...you can't. I-I couldn't handle it."_

_"I know. I'm sorry, Steve. I'm never leaving you. Ever. I promise. Now get up; let's finish here and then we can continue this later."_

_Steve hummed and squeezed his friend tightly before getting off his lap._

_~~_

_"Daddy! Come back! No!" Steve thrashed against the seatbelt, trying to get to his daddy. "Please!" Steve started sobbing and gave up as he felt cold water attacking his toes. Maybe he can go be with Daddy._

~~

"Stevie, uppy!" Bruce demanded, shaking his cousin awake from their nap. Steve has been crying and thrashing around in the crib for who knows how long. Bruce woke up to a fist in his eye. It hurt bad and he's crying, but he's more worried about Steve, so he wants to wake him up. "Steve!"

Steve finally woke up, still half asleep and feeling like he was underwater. He gasped and started clawing at the air. He scratched Bruce's face, making him burst into sobs.

Tony and Bucky were in the room in seconds. Bucky saw Bruce's black eye and blood on his cheek from the claw marks and got mad. Why would Steve hurt his baby cousin like that?!

Tony saw that Bucky was mad, but luckily, he could also see what was going on with Steve, so he grabbed Bucky's arm before either of them went to the crib. "I think Steve had a nightmare and is still inside the nightmare now. He didn't hurt Bruce on purpose; he's just not conscious of what's happening and he's scared. Wake him up and talk to him about it."

Bucky frowned and they walked over to the crib to take care of their babies.

"Daddy!" Bruce cried into Tony's chest when he was lifted out of the crib.

"I know, baby. It's okay. We're gonna go get you taken care of." Tony walked to the door, turning back to look at Bucky trying to wake Steve up. "Don't be mad at Steve. This was an accident. He couldn't help it. Just comfort him and maybe Tori can help him better or something."

Bucky nodded and gently rubbed Steve's back as he tried to calm him down. "Stevie, wake up, baby. Daddy's here. It's okay, baby. Please wake up, Steve. Please?"

Steve didn't wake up yet, but he was starting to calm down, so Bucky kept talking until Steve was finally calm. He woke up a few moments after calming down. "Daddy...?"

Bucky lifted Steve out of the crib and hugged him tightly. "Yes, baby. Daddy's right here. Are you okay?"

"Scary."

"Did you have a scary dream, baby?"

"Yeah."

"My poor baby. Do you wanna talk about it?"

"T-train and-and the plane. Waked up cold underwater.... Scary. Where Brucie?"

"I think he's either in the bathroom or the kitchen. Stevie, are you–"

"Wanna bottle, please, Daddy."

Bucky sighed and decided to talk to Steve about this later. Preferably while he's big. "Okay, babe. Let's change your diaper first." Steve grabbed Bunny and Bear off the floor and held them both while Bucky changed his diaper. (Bruce refused to sleep with Bear, claiming that it was too cramped. Steve doesn't agree with that, but he wants Brucie to be happy, so _fine_.)

Bucky lifted a pants-less Steve into his arms after the diaper change and carried him out to the kitchen, setting him at the table. Tony was in there with Bruce. Bruce was sat on the counter next to the sink, holding an ice pack to his eye and trying to move away from Tony dabbing at his cheek with disinfectant.

"Bwucie? Wha' happen?" Steve frowned.

"Steeb have bad dweams," Bruce explained.

"I hurt you?" Steve whimpered.

"Is otay, Stevie. Not hurt bad." Bruce pushed Tony away as he spoke.

"If it doesn't hurt so bad then sit still and let me take care of you," Tony commanded.

"No, Dada."

"Bruce, do you want to help me and your cousins make cookies later?" Natasha asked, walking into the kitchen.

"Yeah!"

"Let your daddy clean your scratches and take care of you." Bruce huffed, but finally sat still, wincing whenever Tony touched his cheek. "Steve, are you gonna help?"

"Don' know," Steve whispered. He usually loves making cookies with his aunt and cousins, but he doesn't want to hurt anyone again....

"We're going to make shapes and decorate them later. We have every kind of cookie cutter you could imagine!"

"Mickey?"

Natasha nodded and Steve hummed quietly around the bottle of apple juice he was given. "Are you gonna make me a Mickey cookie, baby?" Bucky asked.

"No. I no help."

"Why not?" Bucky frowned and sat in the chair next to Steve, gently rubbing his leg.

"No." Steve didn't say anything besides that whenever someone asked him something.

A few minutes later, Clint waddled, sleepily into the kitchen with his hair sticking up on one side and dried drool on his cheek. He had patterns imprinted into his cheek from his pillow. He also didn't have pants on, so his wet pull-up was visible. He walked into Natasha's arms and yawned, resting his head on her shoulder.

"Hey, malen'kiy yastreb **[little hawk]**. Did you have a good nap?" Clint rarely ever has a nap, but he just came home from a mission yesterday and he didn't sleep much due to returning late at night and having nightmares.

"Mhmm. Wh're's Daddy?"

"Daddy's at S.H.I.E.L.D. taking care of your paperwork for you. He said this is a one time thing, so don't get used to it."

"Kay. When's he comin' home?"

"I don't know, Clint. I'm sure he won't be longer than another hour. Let's go get you out of that pull-up."

"Kay. Uncle Bucky, c'n I have milk wh'n I come back please?"

"How about juice instead?" Bucky suggested. He doesn't want Clint to fall back to sleep, which he knows he will if he has milk.

"Only if it's in my pirate cup."

"Alright, buddy. Go with Aunt Natasha now." Clint followed Natasha to the bathroom.

"What do you want to wear, Clinty?" Natasha asked. Usually she wouldn't ask him and would just get him underwear, but after a mission Clint is usually a little disoriented and takes a few days to get back into the swing of things. He's had more than a few accidents after returning home from a mission, so Phil finally learned that it's a good idea to ask Clint what he wants to wear. If he says he can wear underwear, that usually means he's doing pretty good after the mission. He almost never asks for a diaper, but if he does, there's definitely something bugging him involving the mission. Clint usually asks for a pull-up, which means he just needs a day or two to settle down from the excitement of the mission. And he's always honest about his decision, so they don't have to worry about him lying just because he wants to be a big boy and wear underpants.

"Pull-up. I can do it, Aunt Natasha! You don't needta help. 'M not a baby like my cousins."

"I never said you were. Here you go. Make sure you clean yourself up good or I'll have to help no matter how big you are."

Clint took a baby wipe after removing his wet pull-up and started cleaning himself up. "Auntie Nat, why did Steve look so sad?"

Natasha sighed. "He had a nightmare and hurt Bruce. He doesn't want to make cookies with us now because he's afraid of hurting someone."

Clint stopped in the middle of sliding a clean pull-up up his legs. "We're making cookies?" He asked with a big smile on his face. Natasha nodded. "Dragon cookies?"

"We have all the cookie cutters. And icing."

Clint smiled excitedly and finished dragging his pull-up up and washed his hands before running out to the kitchen. "Thanks for the juice, Uncle Bucky. Stevie? Come with me."

Steve looked up at his cousin and followed him to his room, keeping his fingers in his mouth. "Missed Cwinty." Clint has been gone for a week and a half—that's way too long to be without his big cousin!

"I missed you too, Stevie! Are you gonna make cookies with us?"

"Nuh-uh."

"Why not?"

"No wanna hurt no one...."

"You won't! Even if you do, we'll all still love you. Will you please help? I wanna make cookies with you and you're really good at drawing, so you can decorate the cookies and make them awesome!"

"I no know...."

"Please? You can make Mickey Mouse cookies with Brucie."

"Otay.... Cwinty hewp?"

"Of course I'll help! Now let's go!"

"Eh eh eh!" Steve whined. "Hug first!"

Clint hugged his cousin tightly before kissing his cheek and dragging him to the kitchen. "Can we make cookies now, Auntie Nat?"

"Cookie cookie!" Bruce clapped.

"Alright, alright. There's a surprise for you after we get the cookies in the oven. Uncle Tony set it up for you three," Natasha said. The kids all looked up at Tony.

"What is it?" Clint asked excitedly.

"You'll see when the cookies go in the oven," he said, tapping Clint's nose. He turned to Natasha and whispered, "do you got him?" As he pulled Bruce into his arms. Natasha nodded and ruffled Bruce's hair. "Okay. Baby, Daddy's going to go down to the workshop to do some work, alright? You're going to stay with your aunt and your cousins and make cookies and then go see the surprise-"

"No! Dada!" Bruce cried into Tony's chest. "Wanna stay wif you!"

"I know, I know. You can stay with Daddy all day tomorrow, okay? I promise. We'll even go up to my or your personal floor after dinner tonight. Sound good?"

Bruce sniffled and tightened his fists into Tony's shirt. "Otay, Dada," he finally mumbled.

Tony kissed the top of Bruce's curls and squeezed him tightly. "Okay, Brucie. You be good for Natasha and make me some yummy cookies, alright?" Bruce sniffled, but nodded. "I love you, baby boy."

"Wuv Dada."

"Bwucie, c'mere!" Steve said, trying to get Bruce to let go of Tony and allow the latter to leave. He knows that the faster you let your daddy do his work, the faster you'll get to cuddle him again!

Bruce turned and waddled over to Steve, curiously. Steve pulled the baby onto his lap and hugged him tightly. He made sure his cousin's head was facing away from the elevator as Tony left.

"Let's all wash our hands before we make cookies!" Natasha suggested.

Clint grabbed Bruce's hand and lead him to the sink to help him wash his hands. He knows that babies need a lot of help and Brucie is just a baby!

"Daddy gonna hewp?" Steve asked.

"I've got work to do too, babe," Bucky explained. "I'm going to stay up here to do it, though. Now go wash your hands so you can make cookies." Bucky pressed a kiss to his baby's forehead before patting his butt to get him moving.

"I think it might be a good idea for you three to take your shirts off so you don't get all messy," Natasha remarked as they were all sat at the table.

Bruce blushed and crossed his arms over his chest. He hates not being dressed in front of his cousins. Being naked in front of his aunt is a million times worse! "No," he told her. "I not be messy."

"It's okay, Brucie. No one cares if you don't gotta shirt on," Clint explained, already having thrown his shirt to the side. He's now working on removing Steve's shirt.

"Don' wanna. Keep." Bruce tucked his shirt into his shorts and pouted up at Natasha.

"You don't want to ruin your Mickey shirt, do you?" Natasha asked. Bruce quickly shook his head no and threw his arms up over his head. Natasha gently tugged the shirt over his head and put it over the back of his chair. "You can put it back on when we go down to see the surprise your daddy set up."

"Otay. Mickey now?"

"We gotta make the cookie dough first, silly baby!" Clint exclaimed. Bruce sighed, dramatically diving into Steve's chest. Steve squeezed the baby. "It doesn't take long, right, Auntie Nat?"

"As long as everyone does what I say and is very careful, it should only take a few minutes," Natasha promised, placing all the ingredients next to three different mixing bowls. There are a lot of people here with different cookie preferences; they're making chocolate chip (obviously), sugar cookies, and oatmeal raisin cookies (Bruce's request).

"What 'an us do hewp?" Steve asked.

"Let's see...." Natasha had made cookies with Clint lots of times before, so she knows that he knows what to do. Usually she lets him go everything (except for cracking eggs...never forget), but now they have two more people they're making cookies with.

"Alright," she decided. "Steve, can you fill this cup up to this line with flour? And Bruce, fill this one up with sugar to this line. Then both of you give your cups to Clint so he can level them out with a plastic knife. No little hands on the eggs."

The boys all eagerly did any task they were given. Apart from cracking the eggs and putting chocolate chips in (they wanted to pour 10 bags in to make 24 chocolate chip cookies), Natasha let them do most of it while she supervised. The only other thing she said no to that they wanted to do was putting the cookies in the oven.

"It's going to take a few hours for all the cookies to bake, so we'll go see your surprise _after_ we clean you boys up a bit." Natasha got a wet wash cloth and started cleaning up Bruce while Clint cleaned himself and Bucky cleaned Steve.

"Uncle Bucky, are you gonna watch the cookies while we're gone?" Clint asked.

"I guess so," Bucky shrugged.

"The boys already cut the shapes out and put them on baking trays. You just have to put them in the oven and take them out when they're done. JARVIS will remind you when to do it," Natasha explained.

"Alright. I can do that."

"No forget gloves. Hot," Steve reminded.

"You're right, baby. I'll remember to wear oven mitts. Now go see your surprise and be good for your Aunt Tasha."

"Otay, Dada. Love you."

"I love you too, baby."

"Does anyone need to be changed before we go down?" Natasha asked her nephews. They all shook their heads no 

"Shirt?" Bruce asked. Natasha nodded and grabbed Bruce's shirt from over the back of the chair and slipped it over his head.

"We don't need shirts too, do we, Auntie Nat?" Clint asked, glaring at where he had thrown his and Steve's shirts.

"Well...I guess not, but how about we bring them anyway incase it gets chilly? I'll just put them in the diaper bag."

"Otay," Steve agreed. "Bear come?"

"Sure, Steve. You can bring Bear."

"Can Esther come too?" Clint asked.

"Dex!" Bruce added.

"Yeah, alright. Go get them."

The boys ran off to their rooms to get their toys, then returned to their aunt and climbed into the elevator.

"Ready?" Natasha asked.

The boys nodded and Clint asked, "What's the surprise, Auntie Nat?"

"You'll see in a minute," she replied, throwing the diaper bag over her shoulder. She pressed the button for the floor the surprise is on and shoved a pacifier in each of the boys' mouths when they started talking too loud for her to say anything. Clint hasn't used a pacifier in years, so his eyes widened as he looked up at his aunt.

"You boys need to tell me when you need a new diaper, alright? I don't want any of your daddies to kill me because I let any of you get a rash," she said.

"Daddies wouldn't weally kill you, wight?" Steve asked around the pacifier. He loves his Aunt Tasha; he doesn't want no one to kill her!

"No, probably not, but they wouldn't be very happy with me if any if you got a rash."

"We'll tell you if we need somethin', Aunt Tasha!" Clint promised, removing the pacifier and handing it to Natasha. He started bouncing again and hugged Esther tightly.

The elevator doors opened and the boys all stood there with wide eyes and their mouths gaping open.

The entire floor seems to have been divided into three–equally awesome–sections: an outdoor playground, an indoor playground, and a pool. The outdoor section has regular playground equipment (swings, slides, etc.), and the indoor section has slides, things to climb on, foam tunnels, and so much other awesome stuff! There's even a ball pit!

Clint finally spoke: "This...is...awesome! C'n we go swimmin', Aunt Tasha?"

Natasha noticed Clint lisping and that he called her _Aunt Tasha_. He doesn't do that unless he's really tired, excited, or feeling _super_ little, and even then, it's rare. Poor Clint is probably feeling a combination of all three of those things.

"Not today, Clinty," Natasha told him. "Bruce and Steve don't have any swim gear and I want at least one other adult here when you're all swimming, anyway. I can't handle all three of you in the pool by myself. Another day, I promise."

"Okay. C'mon, Stevie and Bruce, let's go play!" Clint grabbed his cousins' hands and dragged them to the indoor playground. It's raining today and none of them want to get wet. Not that Natasha would have let them go outside in February half naked even if it _wasn't_ raining. The boys have plenty of things to keep them entertained inside.

Natasha had just set the diaper bag down when she heard a loud squeal from Bruce as he was thrown into the foam ball pit by Clint. She smiled and sat down to do work while the kids played.

"Stevie, jump in!" Clint yelled, popping up from under a bunch of foam balls. "'T's fun!"

"I no know," Steve mumbled, hugging Bear tightly. "Wooks scary...."

" _Pleeeaase_?! It's so awesome and fun in here! It's not scary at all, promise!"

"Cwinty, I–" Steve was cut off by a scream when Bruce climbed out of the ball pit and pushed him in, then jumped on top of him.

"Bruce!" Clint scolded, gasping. He pushed the baby off of Steve and pulled him into his arms. "You okay, Stevie?"

Steve sniffled into Clint's neck, shaking lightly. "Scary."

"'T's okay, Stevie. Look, the balls wont hurt you." Clint picked up one of the foam balls to show Steve. "They're soft. They won't hurt. And you can stand up in here, so you're okay. I promise."

Steve hummed and stuck his fingers in his mouth. Bruce frowned and squeezed Dex tightly. "Sorry for push, Stevie," he apologized. Steve turned to look at his baby cousin and rubbed his face with his fists before collapsing into his arms and hugging him.

They stood there, hugging for a few moments before Steve gasped and straightened himself up. "Bear!" He shouted, finally realizing his missing Bear.

Clint waded back over to his cousins, holding onto Esther's tail. "It's okay, Stevie! We'll find Bear! Esther and Dex will go on a search mission and save Bear!"

Steve sniffed and sucked on his fingers while Esther and Dex looked around the ball pit for his bear.

"Okay!" Clint exclaimed in a higher-than-usual voice (his _Esther voice_ ). "So, we know the ball pit is huge, but luckily Steve didn't travel very far from where he's standin' now, so Bear can't _possibly_ be too far away! Dex, you search that half of the ball pit. Stevie, come wif me; we'll find Bear soon!"

Steve clutched Clint's hand as they walked around the right half of the ball pit, feeling for Bear's soft fur with their hands and legs. It didn't take long for Steve to be laying on the floor cuddling his teddy bear, repeating, "Thank you, Es!" over and over again.

"I think that's enough of the ball pit for Steve," Natasha stated, crouching next to Steve. She'd been sitting on a bench off to the side watching her nephews while she worked on her laptop. She would have jumped up in a second if she thought something was wrong, but the boys seemed to be behaving and able to handle everything themselves, so she left them to it. She's only over here now to check their diapers. (She doesn't trust the younger two to tell her they need to be changed one bit.)

"Auntie Nat," Clint mumbled, climbing out of the ball pit. He was playing with his fingers, looking down at them quietly. "I-I didn't realize I had ta...and I...."

"It's okay, Clint. That's why you're wearing a pull-up. Why don't you go get the diaper bag and we'll get you three changed?" She suggested. Clint nodded and grabbed the diaper bag. "Come on, Bruce. Let's go get changed."

"No wanna. Not messy," he insisted.

"You're going to get changed anyway. You haven't been changed in almost 4 hours. Even if you didn't use that diaper, you should get a new one just so you're not sitting in the same diaper for hours."

"No wanna."

"I know, Bruce. Come on, let's go get this over with. I'll be fast."

"Nooo," Bruce whined.

"Bruce Banner, come on. Steve needs his diaper changed and Clint needs a new pull-up. The longer you complain, the more likely they are to get a rash; you don't want to be the reason your cousins get a rash, do you?"

"No, Auntie Nat." Bruce sighed and stood up, following his aunt and cousins to the bathroom.

"Don't wanna diaper," Steve mumbled. The only girls who had ever changed his diapers are his mom and his Aunt Peggy.... He really doesn't want Natasha to change his diaper, but at the same time he doesn't want to get a rash....

"I know, Steve. How about I change Clint first?" Natasha suggested. Steve and Bruce both nodded.

Clint blushed as he climbed onto the changing table in the bathroom. He's not embarrassed about being naked in front of anyone here (Nat's seen him naked more times than he can count for baths and diaper changes and he's taken baths with both his little cousins before), but he doesn't want them to think that he's a baby, because he isn't! He hasn't had daytime accidents in nearly 5 months, so Bruce and Steve probably don't even know he has an occasional problem with that.

"What do you want to wear, Clinty?" Natasha asked after wiping him clean.

Clint figures he should probably wear a diaper since he can't tell when he has to go potty, but.... "I'm not a baby, Aunt Tasha."

"No one said you were." Natasha pulled her nephew up into her arms for a tight hug. "That was a tough mission, wasn't it?" Clint nodded into her neck. "Exactly, so it's okay if you have a bit of trouble for a while. Everyone will still love you, our big boy." She placed a kiss to Clint's forehead before letting him lay back down and tell her that he wants a diaper.

"C'n I put shorts on, Aunt Tasha?" Clint asked.

"Sure, Clint. You have shorts in the diaper bag if you want to look for them and put them on."

Clint nodded and searched for his shorts while his cousins got their diapers changed. He guesses it's good that they didn't seem to mind needing their diapers changed after they saw him get his changed, but he's still embarrassed. He's going to talk to his therapist about this next time he sees her, which will hopefully he soon.

"Can we decorate cookies now?" Clint asked as Natasha washed her hands.

"I don't think all of them are done yet. JARVIS, about how much longer should it take for all the cookies to be done and ready to decorate?"

 _"It will take_ _98_ _minutes for the last batch to finish baking. You can decorate the cookies that are already cooled then and the last batch should be ready to be decorated by the time you're finished,"_ JARVIS answered.

"About an hour and a half. Do you want to play for a little while longer, then maybe go watch a show and decorate cookies?" Natasha asked.

"Okay. Come on, Stevie and Bruce!" Clint grabbed his cousins' hands and dragged them out of the bathroom to play (not in the ball pit this time).

\---

About an hour and a half later, three little boys were clinging to their daddies after coming up from playing. Clint was in the tunnel when a spider fell on his head! It traumatized him! Steve and Bruce didn't actually _see_ the spider, but they knew about it and got scared too.

"I'm sorry you three got scared," Tony apologized through Bruce's hair. He completely feels that the spider incident is his fault. "That floor has been empty for a long time; I guess the spiders that lived there didn't appreciate their home being changed in order to have all that play equipment and little kids running around it and screaming.... I'll have somebody come clean that floor tomorrow to make sure there are no more spiders for the next time you want to play there. Did you have fun until the spider attacked Clint, though?"

"Yeah, Dada," Bruce said. "Lotsa fun. Wuv it, thank you for makin' it."

"Thank you for making that room for us, it's a lot of fun and we love it lots," Steve and Clint said in unison with minimal prompting from their daddies.

"Good. I'm glad you like it," Tony smiled.

"Can we decorate cookies now?" Clint whispered into his daddy's neck.

"You can't decorate cookies sitting on me like this," Phil pointed out. "How about another hug and a kiss, then you and your cousins can go decorate cookies?"

Clint nodded, agreeing with this. He hugged his daddy tightly and smiled weakly as he felt a kiss press against his forehead. "Love you, Daddy."

"I love you too, Bug. Now go decorate some cookies for me." Phil gently patted Clint's bottom after standing him up facing the kitchen.

"Bear, Es, Dex come?" Steve asked, looking up at Natasha.

"How about they stay in here this time?" Natasha suggested. "So they don't get all icky and covered in frosting and stuff? I'm sure your daddies will take good care of them."

Steve hummed and gave Bear a tight hug before handing him to Bucky. Bruce pouted more, but eventually handed Dex over to Tony.

Clint wasn't as willing to give up Esther.

He started crying, softly at first, but it got a million times worse when Bruce tried to take Esther from him.

"No!" He cried. "My elephant! Mine! I want her with me! She c'n decorate too; she won't get dirty!"

The babies looked at Clint, scared and backed onto their daddies' laps.

"Clint...come here, bug," Phil whispered, standing up. Clint cried and dove into Phil's arms. The latter lifted his little boy into his arms and rocked him for a minute before walking to his room, assuring everyone else that they would be back and Clint would be okay.

"D'ddy," Clint cried, squeezing Esther and cuddling further into Phil's chest.

"Hey, bug. Do you wanna tell me what's wrong?" Phil whispered, sitting on the bed and hugging Clint close to him. He kissed the top of his head and gently rubbed his back for encouragement.

"W-want E-Esther!" Clint cried harder, causing Phil to rock them harder in order to calm him down. "T-too much h'ppened since m-mission...." Clint stated after another minute.

"I know, baby. Tell me about it."

Clint shifted into a more comfortable position–he's now laying with his head in the crook of Daddy's arm while his legs are hanging off his lap–before speaking: "Mission w's scary, Daddy.... Dark and icky and scary peoples.... Nightmares.... Stevie w's sad wh'n I waked up 'cause he hurt Brucie.... And then he didn't like the ball pit and he lost Bear, and I dunno when I need the potty now, so I'm wearin' a diaper.... And then the spider, and I jus' want Daddy and Esther and decorate cookies now."

"Aw, I know, bug. It's been a tough day for my little boy, hasn't it?"

"Yeah," Clint mumbled. He sounds so tired; it hurt Phil's heart.

"How about a nap and you can decorate cookies later? They'll still be there when you wake up."

"No, Daddy. Wanna decorate now. And I won't be sleepy later if I have another nap now...."

"I think you will be, but okay. Would you like me to sit with you? And I can hold Esther for you to make sure she doesn't get messy. You'll still have her, but I'll be holding her instead of you holding her; I'll be holding you too."

"Okay, Daddy," Clint finally agreed. "That sounds good. Change me first?"

"Okay, what should I change you into? A frog? Or how about a duck? Or a kitty? I think a kitty; those are cute."

"No, Daddy," Clint giggled. "I'm cuter than a kitty!"

"You are?!" Phil gasped, teasingly and Clint nodded, giggling. "Oh, alright. I guess you are _kind of_ cute...."

"I'm super cute!"

"Yeah, you are." Phil tickled Clint's tummy, making him burst into giggles. He stopped after a minute, smiling at his smiley little boy. He knows missions can be really hard for him sometimes, and he gets emotional and worked up over little things for a while when he comes home, but tickles always help until he's able to go talk to his therapist.

"Alright, bug. Let's get you changed and go decorate some cookies."

Clint wrapped his Nemo blanket around his shoulders like a cape and talked quietly to Esther while Daddy changed his diaper.

Phil lifted Clint back into his arms after pulling his shorts back up and carried him back out to the playroom. "Can we decorate cookies now?" Clint asked.

"Yeah," Natasha smiled, putting her arms out for her nephew. "Wanna come help me get the decorations out? Daddy and your cousins will be in in a minute."

"Okay, Aunt Tasha." Clint was transferred to his aunt's arms while Daddy stayed to let his worried uncles and cousins know that he's going to be okay. He'll just be emotional for a while.

"Tori was going to talk to Steve about something tomorrow," Bucky started, trying not to give anything away to his baby. He doesn't even know much about what it's about, really. "Some kind of G-R-O-U-P.... Maybe Clint would like to come and hear what it's about. Even if Steve doesn't want to go, Clint maybe could. And if Clint _does_ want to go, Steve is more likely to want to go too, and I think it would be really good for him."

"I'll talk to Clint tonight. What time does Steve see Tori tomorrow?" Phil checked. "Clint's got an appointment with his own therapist at 11 tomorrow."

"Steve's appointment's at 2. Think you two will be back by 1?"

"We should be."

"Okay. I'll take them tomorrow at about 1:20. I don't know how long we'll be there, but we should definitely be home by 4. I might take the kids out for a late lunch tomorrow," Bucky shrugged.

"Alright. We'll talk more," Phil said as he heard Clint start whining for him. "I'm coming, bug! Hold on a minute!"

"Clinty otay?" Steve asked.

"Clint is fine," Phil promised.

"Mad at Brucie?" Bruce whimpered, teary-eyed and holding tightly onto his daddy.

"No. Nobody is mad at Brucie. I think Clint might be getting restless, though, so let's go decorate some cookies before he eats them all."

Steve and Bruce both gasped and ran to the kitchen, yelling for Clint to not eat all the cookies without them.

"We have to decorate them before we eat them, silly boys," Natasha said. "That was the whole point of making cookies today!"

Phil smiled as he sat in a chair and Clint handed him Esther before climbing onto his lap.

"JARVIS, make sure you're recording everything that happens in there," Tony said from the play room. "There's some important stuff happening in there. I want to watch it later."

_"Of course, Sir. I also recorded them down in their new play area today."_

"Good thinking, J. Don't worry, Buck; I'll have JARVIS send you the videos."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ALRIGHT  
> hi  
> So I'm thinking for at least a little while I'm only going to update every other week (you may notice that I didn't update last week)  
> I don't know how long this will be for though...  
> Also, chapter 12 is done, but is REALLY long (12866 words) so I don't know if you'll want to read a chapter that long.... Let me know I'll either keep it like that or split it in half, depending on what the majority of votes are. It doesn't matter to me either way, it will be easy for me to do (the only reason I haven't split it is because I'm lazy...).  
> Anyways.  
> I'm going to go finish watching Hannibal now and cry. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, see you in a few weeks ^^


	15. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: panic attacks/talk of panic attacks  
> Let me know if there are anymore I need to add and I will add them at my first available moment :-)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry I meant to post this on Monday and now it's Wednesday ;-;  
> I got sick last Thursday/Friday and missed school, so I've been trying to catch up these last few days, but I'm finally caught up now!! (Kinda..I have no peers to edit my report but whatever I don't care and I don't think my English teachers do either so)  
> Anyway  
> This is a long one (over 12000 words!). Good luck.

Dark. Loud. Pain. Scary.

_Clint sat up in bed, breathing heavily. He looked around his bedroom, afraid. It's so dark in here.... Uncle Tony must have forgotten to replace the batteries in his nightlight last night._

_The door opened and a tall, dark, shadowy figure appeared in the doorway. Clint screamed and hid under his blanket with Esther._

_He knows that won't really help him when the monster decides to come eat him, but maybe it's a stupid monster and will be confused for a minute._

_"Clint! It's okay, baby, Daddy's here! Come on out and show me your pretty eyes."_

_That's just what a monster_ would _say! "No! Go 'way, stupid mons'er!"_

_"Clint, there's no monster. It's just Daddy. JARVIS, turn the light on, please."_

_Clint squeezed Esther tighter._ JARVIS! _He can't believe he didn't think of that! "JARVIS, make Uncle Bucky come throw the mons'er out!"_

_"Clint, you're being ridiculous now. Just take the blanket off your head and come get a cuddle."_

_Clint didn't respond to the monster. Cuddles sound great. And the monster's voice_ does _sound a lot like Daddy's.... Maybe it will be okay...._

_Clint slowly pushed the blanket off his head and screamed as a giant, blue ball of slime picked him up with four furry arms. Clint looked down at the monster's four scaly green legs and screamed again at the sight of his family laying there, all half eaten–_

"Clint, wake up!"

Clint's eyes opened and he saw his daddy standing above him, looking worried. He dove into his daddy's arms, sobbing into his neck.

"Did you have a nightmare, bug?" Phil whispered, rubbing a soothing hand against his baby's back.

"Yeah," Clint choked out. "M-mons'er. Scary, Daddy."

"I bet. It's okay now, bug. Daddy's here and he won't let any monsters get you." Clint sniffled and hugged his daddy tightly. "Wanna go take a bath with your cousins while Aunt Natasha finishes making breakfast?"

"Daddy come?"

"I'll come if you want me to, babe."

Clint nodded quickly, burying his head against Phil's neck. Phil lifted Clint into his arms and carried him into the bathroom where Steve and Bruce were standing in their diapers while they waited for the tub to finish filling up with water.

"Do you have to go potty first, Clint?" Phil asked. Clint thought for a minute, then shook his head no. "Alright. I'm going to put you down now so I can get you undressed."

"Kay," Clint mumbled. He doesn't really want Daddy to put him down, but he feels icky, so he wants to get in the bath. Baths always help him feel better when he feels yucky or scared.

Phil placed Clint down on his feet and helped him strip down to his diaper. He watched as Clint's face reddened when he noticed his cousins looking at the clearly wet diaper.

"Clinty wear diaper." Bruce pointed out. "Baby?"

"'M not a baby!" Clint gasped, offended. How dare Bruce insinuate such a thing?! He's a big boy! "I'm a big boy! Jus'-jus'–"

"Cwinty?" Steve whispered. "'T's otay. You a big boy, jus' have assidents s'metimes. Notta baby." Steve hugged his older cousin tightly.

Clint blushed, but nodded and hugged him back.

"Aww," Bucky cooed. "You two are so sweet."

"Not sweet, Daddy. Big boys aren't sweet," Steve pouted.

"No? What are big boys then?"

"Big."

"That's true," Phil chuckled. "They're also smelly and they need baths." He lightly tickled Steve and Clint's tummies, making them giggle.

"'M I big?" Bruce asked.

Phil sniffed Bruce and teasingly covered his nose and said, "PU! You must be big; c'mon, it's time for big boys to get in the bath."

Bucky and Phil helped the three boys out of their diapers and into the tub after cleaning up urine.

"Do you boys want some toys?" Bucky asked. Steve asked for bath crayons while Bruce requested Bath Dex. Clint just scooped bubbles into his hands and played with them. "Clint. You don't want any toys?"

"No thanks, Uncle Bucky. Still too tired for toys."

Phil frowned. He's never heard that one before. He leaned forward and pressed the back of his hand to Clint's forehead. "Are you feeling okay, bug? You always want toys. Even when you're falling asleep in the bath."

"I'm okay, Daddy. Don' want toys."

Phil frowned harder, but didn't push.

"Cwinty color?" Steve asked, offering a purple crayon.

"No thanks, Stevie. You color."

Steve frowned, looking between his daddy and uncle. They both smiled sadly.

"Finish coloring, baby," Bucky said. "You don't want to be in there when the water gets cold, do you?"

Steve gasped. "No, Daddy! No cold!" He turned back to the wall where he was drawing a picture of a kitten.

The adults let the kids do what they wanted for a few minutes before starting to wash them.

"Stevie, what is that?" Clint asked when he got out of tub. He pushed the towel Phil was using to dry his hair away to look at his cousin's drawing. Bruce took advantage of Bucky being distracted to scoot away from the evil water-pouring cup and look at Steve's drawing.

Both boys screamed simultaneously.

Steve had drawn a cute little kitten. And then he drew a plate under it. And a table under the plate. And two monsters sitting at the table. One of them had something that looked like a bone to pick its teeth with and the other was holding a cat's skull.

Clint noticed that one of the monsters looked like the one from his dream (give or take a few limbs) and he ran out of the bathroom, not caring about being wet and naked. He just wants to hide under his blankets with Esther.

Phil lifted a suds-less Bruce out of the tub to get him away from the drawing that had scared him and bring him to his daddy before going to check on Clint.

"Daddy?" Steve frowned. "W's I bad?"

"No. Your drawing just scared Clint and Bruce. You didn't do anything bad," Bucky whispered.

"Did," Steve sniffled. "Scared cousins...."

"It's okay, Steve. You didn't mean to scare them; you were just coloring. Right?"

"Mhmm."

"That's right. Come on, let's go get you dried and in some clothes. It's okay, baby."

"Clint?" Phil asked. He saw the lump under the blankets that had to have been Clint and he sighed, sitting next to the lump. "What are you doing under there, bug?"

"Go 'way, mons'er," Clint cried.

"I'm not a monster, Clint; I'm your daddy. Can you come out and look at me? I promise there's no monster."

"No!" Clint sobbed. This is just like his dream! He doesn't want to see that again! Last time he woke up, but he might not this time, and he doesn't think he could handle that. He should be fine if he just stays under the blankets, though. He can live under here, right? He's warm and he's got Esther and a sippy cup with some water in it—what else could he need? Besides food, he thought as his tummy growled at him.

Phil sighed. "Okay. Well, if you won't come out, I'm coming in." He lifted the blanket and pulled it back over himself and Clint. "There. That's much better."

Clint slowly opened his eyes and saw his daddy! "Daddy!" He cried, diving into his arms. "The-the monster went away?"

"Yes, he did. There won't be anymore monsters in your room as long as I'm around. I promise." Phil hugged his little boy tightly and kissed his forehead. "Now, how 'bout we go get some clothes on and have breakfast?"

"No monsters?" Clint checked, sniffling.

"No monsters," Phil confirmed.

"Kay." Phil took the blanket off their heads and stood up with Clint in his arms, carrying him to the dresser. "C'n I pick my clothes, Daddy?"

"Sure, bug. Can you tell me if you want to wear a pull-up or diaper?"

Clint blushed. He really would rather wear his underpants, but he knows that's not a good idea. He still isn't sure about when he needs the potty, so a diaper would probably be his best bet, but it's embarrassing....

"I can wear a pull-up, Daddy."

"Are you sure? It doesn't matter to me either way, but I want you to be sure."

"Yeah. I'm sure, Daddy. I'm a big boy!"

"Okay, bug. Do you want to get dressed by yourself too?"

"I wouldn't go _that_ far, Daddy."

Phil chuckled as he took the Batman shirt Clint handed him. This shirt has a cape attached to the back and it's awesome!

Clint ran to his bed after he had his shirt on and hugged his Nemo blanket and Esther.

"What about pants, bug?" Phil asked.

"No pants, Daddy. I don't like them."

Phil sighed, but put the jeans he was holding on top of the dresser. "Okay, you don't have to wear pants right now, but you need to put them on before we go out today."

"Where're we goin', Daddy?"

"You meet with Cassie today, and I want you to go with Steve and Bucky to find out about a group Steve's therapist is going to talk about. You don't have to go to the group of you don't want to, but I want you to listen to what it's about."

"Okay, Daddy." Clint put his arms up, resting his head against Phil's shoulder when he was picked up. Phil carried his little boy out to the kitchen and gently placed him in his chair next to Bruce.

"Cwinty, Bwucie, I sowwy for scared you!" Steve exclaimed when he came out of his room a few minutes later, sniffling, afraid that his cousins would be mad at him.

"It's okay, Stevie," Clint promised. "I usually like monsters, but I had a bad dream and 'm sentisive right now. And Brucie is just a baby, so he gets scared real easy."

"No!" Bruce protested, pouting.

Clint ignored his baby cousin for a second before turning to him and shouting, "Boo!" Bruce squeaked and jumped out of his chair onto his daddy's lap. "Point proven. It's okay, Steve. Promise. No one's mad at you."

"Otay," Steve whispered.

"Wuv Stevie!" Bruce exclaimed, peeking out from Tony's shoulder.

"I wuv you too, Bwucie, n' Cwinty!" Steve hugged both of his cousins before sitting in a chair.

"Get in your highchair, baby," Bucky said.

"No, Dada. Not a baby," Steve blushed. Bruce doesn't even sit in a highchair and he's littler than him!

"I know you're not. Are you going to eat all your breakfast like a good boy?"

"Yes, Daddy."

"Then you can sit there. But if you don't eat your breakfast, you will sit in your highchair until you do."

"Otay."

"That's a pretty cool shirt you have on, Clint," Tony smiled.

"You buyed it for me, Uncle Tony! It's super cool! Look, I've got a cape!" Clint showed everyone the cape. "N' it moves when I run n' everythin'!" Clint slid off of his chair and ran around the kitchen a few times, giggling as the cape flew behind him.

Bucky caught Clint in his arms after his fifth lap around the kitchen and plopped him down in his seat.

"Thank you, Bucky," Phil sighed. "Clint, sit and eat your breakfast. We have to go soon."

"I don't wanna eat," Clint whined, pouting and crossing his arms.

"Eat half at least."

Clint pouted more, then gasped at the puppy shaped pancakes Natasha placed in front of him. There's even a face drawn on the puppies with chocolate syrup!

"Wow! Those look really cool, Aunt Tasha! D'ddy, c'n I take my shirt off so it doesn't get messy?"

"Sure, babe."

"Help me?"

Phil nodded and pulled Clint's shirt off, then pushed his chair in. "Eat your breakfast, bug."

Breakfast was uneventful besides the babies being amazed at their Mickey Mouse pancakes. After getting cleaned up, the boys went to play for a little bit. Steve, Bruce, Natasha, and Bucky sat on the floor with a bunch of blocks and stuffed animals, working on building a whole little neighborhood for them. Clint was sat on the couch, watching them from where he was cuddled in between his daddy and Uncle Tony. He was wrapped cozily in his blanket with Esther clutched in a death grip.

"Don't you want to go play before we have to leave?" Phil asked, gently rubbing Clint's side.

"No, Daddy. Want cuddles."

"Well, I certainly won't say no to cuddles!" Phil hugged Clint tightly and kissed his forehead. Clint smiled slightly and snuggled into his daddy.

Tony lightly ran his fingers through Clint's hair. "You okay, buddy?" He asked.

"I will be, Uncle Tony."

"Okay. You know I'm here for you if you ever want to talk, right?"

"Mhmm."

"Alright. Maybe one day you can come down to my workshop and help out with something or play with my bots."

"That'd be fun!" Clint smiled at Tony, turning so he was leaning against Phil and had his feet resting on Tony's lap.

"I think so too. You let me know when you want to come down, alright? Whenever you want. I'm here when you're big too, you know?"

"I know. Thanks, Uncle Tony." Clint sat up and hugged his uncle. Tony squeezed him tightly and kissed the side of his head. He's worried about Clint. He understands why he's acting the way he is, but he's never seen him like this before and he doesn't like it. He hopes this doesn't last too much longer because he can tell nobody else likes it either—especially Clint.

\---

"Hi, Clint," Cassie greeted, smiling.

"Hello," Clint replied, hiding his face in Daddy's side and squeezing Esther. Usually he's not at all shy and is begging to sit in the beanbag chair, but today he just wants to be in his daddy's arms and watch movies.

"Why are you being so shy for me today? Hmm?"

"Dunno. C'n Daddy come in?"

"Of course he can. Come on, let's go sit down." Phil was about to pick Clint up when he pushed him away and stood on his own—he stood practically on top of Phil, but he stood and walked by himself, nonetheless. "Alright. So what's been happening since I last saw you?" Clint has biweekly appointments with Cassie, but sometimes it's not enough. Cassie tells Clint he can come in whenever he needs, but Clint only ever goes to their scheduled appointments.

"Hadda mission. It w's really scary, but I did it! And Uncle Tony made a really awesome play floor f'r me n' my baby cousins. It's got a pool and part of it's outside and it's really cool! I made cookies with Aunt Tasha and my cousins." Clint explained the worst and best parts of the last two weeks, but didn't go into detail about the worst part.

"Yeah? It sounds like you've got a really good aunt and uncle to do that for you and your cousins." Clint hummed and nodded. "How did your mission go?"

Clint shifted uncomfortably and leaned against his daddy. "It-it was really scary. And dark. And there were icky bugs wh'n I sleeped. I almost died, but the person that shot at me had bad aim, so th't's good."

"I agree: it's good that not everybody's aim is as good as yours. I know you can't really tell me about your mission, but if there's anything else you think I should know, I want you to tell me."

Clint blushed deeply. Maybe this is irrelevant, but it's happening _because_ of the mission, so.... "I-I dunno when I needta potty. M'bladder doesn't tell my brain. Also I feel kinda littler than usual...."

"I see. Well, you usually feel about 5, right? How old are you now?" Clint was quiet for a moment before holding up 3 fingers. "Okay. And do you think you don't know when you need to potty because you're littler? Or is there another reason?"

"Th'mission n' almost dyin's probably why.... But I don't like it. And Brucie thinked I'm a baby now because he see'd me wearin' a diaper. I'm not a baby! I'm a big boy!"

"I know you're a big boy, Clint. Wearing a diaper doesn't always mean you're a baby. Do you remember what we did last time you had a problem with continence?"

"Yah, Cassie," Clint blushed, thinking back to the special exercises he learned to help him learn when he needs the potty again. He still had nighttime accidents and very rare daytime accidents, but he was able to wear his underpants again and he was so proud of that. Phil was too, though he always says he doesn't mind changing Clint's diapers. As long as Clint is happy, so is he.

"I did s'me last night," Clint admitted.

"Good boy. I want you to continue that, alright?" Clint nodded. "Is there anything else regarding the mission?"

Clint shrugged. "Havin' nightmares and I get scared easy. Stevie drew really scary mons'ers eatin' a kitty today.... One'a the mons'ers was in my dream las' night...." Clint started shaking in Phil's arms, so the latter hugged him tight and kissed his head to calm him down.

"Why did he draw that?"

"I dunno. He likes drawin' lots and he likes kitties, but he usually doesn't like mons'ers.... He wasn't _tryin_ ' ta scare me n' Brucie or nothin'. We just got scared and I hided in my room till Daddy came."

"Would you like to talk about your dream?"

Clint shrugged silently, curling up as tight as he could and hiding his face in Phil's side.

"Come on, bug," Phil coaxed, gently. "Do you want me to go so you can talk to Cassie about your dream?"

"No! Daddy, stay!" Clint wrapped his arms around Phil's torso and refused to let go until the latter promised not to leave unless he was explicitly told to leave.

Clint crawled onto his daddy's lap and hugged Esther before he remembered where he is and blushed as he looked at the therapist. "I-I.... In bad dream, I waked up in bed n' saw a mons'er, so I hided under my blankets. Mons'er had Daddy's voice, so-so I came out for cuddles, but see'd the mons'er. Mons'er–" Clint sniffled and squeezed his elephant tight. Phil gently rubbed a hand up and down his baby's back to comfort him and remind him where he is. "Mons'er pickeded me up n' I saw-saw–" Clint choked on a sob as he pressed his face to Phil's chest. "I saw my family! Layin' on the floor almost all eated by tha mons'er!" Clint began crying hard until Phil stood and rocked them, shushing him and petting his hair.

"That sounds pretty traumatizing, Clint," Cassie sympathized. "There are a few things that I'm going to talk about to help with the nightmares, alright? And then we'll try one or two of them." She said when Clint was finally calmed back down.

"Kay," Clint whispered. "C'n...c'n I go potty first...?"

"Of course. You know where it is."

Phil placed Clint on his feet. "Do you need me to come with you?" He asked. Clint blushed, but nodded and held his daddy's hand tightly while he grabbed the diaper bag and lead him to the bathroom.

"I didn't mean to, Daddy," Clint whispered. "I didn't realize I hadta go until some pee came out...."

"It's okay, bug. Did you finish going in the pull-up?" Clint shook his head. "Let's get you on the toilet, then."

"I can do it!" Clint swatted at Phil's hands moving towards his pants and quickly pushed his bottoms down by himself and sat on the toilet.

Phil turned toward the changing table to set the diaper bag down and remove a clean pull-up while Clint finished using the toilet. "Help now?" Clint requested. He knows he could do this by himself, but he doesn't want to. He wants Daddy to take care of him right now. He'll try to do better tomorrow.

"Of course, bug." Phil stepped forward and helped Clint clean up and dispose of the wet pull-up and put the dry one on. He pulled Clint's jeans back up and washed his hands, then brought him back to Cassie.

"Everything okay?" She asked, smiling. Both boys nodded and sat on the couch—well, Phil sat on the couch; Clint sat on his lap. "Okay. Are you ready to talk about what to do for your nightmares?" Clint nodded.

"Okay. There are a few things you can do: If you hear things from real life in your sleep, you can listen to white noise while you're sleeping. Sometimes if you hear something in real life while sleeping, the noise will be somehow incorporated into your dream. Different sounds might have different effects on your dream, but I don't like to take chances, so I sleep with white noise. The white noise running blocks out background noise, so that won't necessarily _not_ be a problem, but it would be less of a problem. You don't have to do this if you don't want to, but it's an idea that might be helpful.  
"You really shouldn't watch or read anything scary before bedtime, especially when you're little, because you'll still be thinking about it when you're falling asleep. The last thing you think about at night tends to be what dream about, so if you watch something scary—"

"I'll probably have nightmares 'bout it," Clint finished to show that he understands.

"That's right. You should try to think of positive, happy things before bed instead of scary things."

"I'm not allowed to watch nothin' scary when I'm little anyway. Last time I did I hid in the vents for a week because I was scared. Aunt Tasha had to come up to take care of me because Daddy can't climb up there." Phil hummed and gently bounced Clint on his knee.

"I remember hearing about that. These aren't just for you to use when you're little, though. You can use these while you're big too. And you can tell your cousins about these methods if they have nightmares too." Clint nodded and leaned against Phil's chest with his thumb in his mouth and Esther in the crook of his arm.

"Okay. One of the other things you could do is keep a positive thoughts journal. At night, before you bed, you would sit down and write–or have your daddy write for you–your happiest thoughts of the day. That will cause you to still be thinking of them as you're falling asleep, and hopefully stay in that positive headspace in your sleep and prevent nightmares.  
"There's also analyzing your dreams. Something in your dream is probably symbolic of something in your real life. Once you figure out what it's symbolizing, you could talk to someone about it a bit if you need reassurance. You can also reimagine the dream while you're awake and alter the dream, so that it turns down a positive path. While this may not help right away, it's been reported that 70 percent of people who have nightmares and have practiced this method have experienced varying degrees of relief.  
"The most fun method, in my opinion, is painting your nightmare. You don't necessarily have to paint what happened in the nightmare; you could paint how it made you feel. Either way, getting your feelings out will help.  
"And of course, you can always talk to me and I'll help you out."

"Okay. Thank you," Clint said around his thumb. He'll have to remember all this when he's going to bed tonight because he _really_ doesn't want to have anymore nightmares!

"Would you like to try one or two of those methods now?"

Clint nodded. "Wanna paint." Clint wants to tell Stevie about these methods when he gets home. He knows Steve has nightmares sometimes and he loves drawing and painting, so maybe this could help him.

"Okay. How about we try analyzing your dream first, and then you can paint. Does that sound good?"

Clint nodded and removed his thumb from his mouth so he could talk easier.

"Alright. What do you think your dream means, Clint?"

Clint was quiet for a minute as he cuddled closer to Phil. "I-I didn't tell you somethin' about the mission that I shoulda.... It probably made me have that dream too...."

"Oh? What is it, Clint?"

Clint felt tears spring to his eyes as he remembered the mission.

 _Clint jumped out of the tree in front of the target. The mission is simple: track this guy down and put an arrow between his eyes—well, maybe that's not_ exactly _what he was told to do, but that's basically it. The only problem is: this guy is part of a large group with a lot of body guards and people who want him kept alive. Clint tries not to kill people if he can help it, but he's knocked out and injured so many people on this mission.... He's finally cornered his target._

_"Don't think you'll get away with this," the target said. "I have people who will find you and kill you. But before they kill you, they'll kill your family. And you'll be forced to watch."_

_Clint's eyes widened for a second, thinking of Daddy and his cousins and Aunt Natasha and all his uncles.... He quickly snapped out of it._

_"You won't get us, you sonofabitch." Three seconds later, there was an arrow right between the guy's eyes._

"Oh, baby," Phil whispered. "Why didn't you tell me about that? Nobody's going to get you or any of us. I promise you. Daddy wouldn't let anyone touch you or your cousins. Your aunt and uncles will protect everyone too. And JARVIS won't let anybody in that's not supposed to be there. You're safe, baby. Other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are tracking down the rest of that guy's group to make sure you're safe and not being followed."

"Okay, Daddy," Clint mumbled, shoving his thumb back in his mouth. "I believe you."

Phil pressed a kiss to Clint's cheek. "I love you, bug." Clint hummed and told his daddy he loves him too.

"Can I paint now?" He asked, turning to Cassie.

"Sure, Clint," she smiled at him. "Let me get everything set up."

Clint cuddled his daddy for the few minutes it took Cassie to set everything up and allow him to paint.

"Let's take your shirt off first so it doesn't get covered in paint," Phil suggested, holding the back of Clint's pants when the latter started to run to the canvas.

"Okay, Daddy!" Clint lifted his arms above his head and as soon as his shirt was off, his hands were in the paint, smooshing it all over. Phil sighed, but didn't say anything once he saw the big smile on his little boy's face.

"Clint, don't forget the purpose of this is to paint something relating to your dream," Cassie reminded when she saw Clint paint a big blue ball.

"I know. I'm paintin' the mons'er! But I'm gonna make him look silly because it was silly to think he'd hurt me n' my family." Clint put a pink hair bow on top of the monster's head, making Phil chuckle.

Clint painted for 15 minutes before he decided his masterpiece was finally finished. "'M done!" He announced, throwing his hands up and succeeding in dripping paint into his hair.

"Good job, bug," Phil praised. "That monster looks really silly!"

Clint smiled, proudly, and walked towards his daddy for a hug.

"Nuh-uh! Nope! Not until you get cleaned up!"

Clint pouted, but stood still while Phil cleaned the various colors off his hands, arms, and chest with numerous baby wipes.

"Alright. Is there anything else you want to talk about today, Clint?" Cassie asked.

"Hmm. I don't think so," Clint shrugged, pulling his shirt back on by himself.

"Alright. I'll see you in two weeks, then. Call me if you need to talk earlier, alright?"

Clint nodded. "C'n I take my painting?"

"Of course, Clint."

Clint pulled his jacket on while Phil grabbed the painting. The boys said bye to Cassie, made the next appointment, and left.

\---

At home, Phil gave Clint another bath to wash the paint out of his hair.

"Daddy, what time do I gotta go with Stevie and Uncle Bucky?" Clint asked from where he was wrapped up in a towel.

"1:20," Phil answered, rubbing the towel over his little boy's hair and body.

"N' what time's it now?"

"One o'clock."

"C'n we cuddle until then?"

Phil smiled. "Of course, bug. Let's go get you dressed and lay down." Phil started walking out of the bathroom, expecting Clint to follow him. Instead, the latter started whining and stretched his arms out, making grabby hands. "I take it you want to be carried?" Phil chuckled. Clint quickly nodded, smiling when he was picked up.

Phil placed Clint down on his feet in his bedroom and got clean clothes and a pull-up out for him. "Can I get dressed later, Daddy?" Clint asked.

"Alright. Put your pull-up on for now, but you can get dressed later." Clint slid his pull-up up his legs and butt. He climbed into bed and reached for Phil. Phil smiled and sat next to his little boy, holding him as he laid them both down.

The two laid down and cuddled until Bucky knocked on the door to let them know they need to leave in 5 minutes.

Clint pouted as he was disentangled from his daddy and dressed in green pants and the same shirt from earlier. Clint watched as Phil pushed socks and shoes onto his feet, not helping at all. He doesn't want to go out again; he wants to cuddle with Daddy!

"I love you, bug," Phil stated, hugging Clint tightly.

"Love you too, Daddy," Clint hummed. "Can I bring Esther and my blanket with me?"

"Of course. And we can cuddle more when you get home. I'll even think about letting you have ice cream after dinner if you're good for Uncle Bucky."

Clint perked up, smiling widely. He rarely gets to have ice cream at night because it makes him too hyper so he doesn't want to go to bed. He loves sitting on the couch with Daddy and a bowl of ice cream while they watch movies before bed. It's the best thing in the world!

"I'll be super good, Daddy! I promise!"

"Okay, bug. Come on, let's go." Phil led Clint out to the playroom to see Bucky shoving some diapers and pull-ups in Steve's diaper bag. Steve was laying on the couch asleep in just a t-shirt and diaper. Phil stepped forward to slip sweatpants up the baby's legs and put his socks on.

"Thanks, Phil," Bucky smiled. He put a bottle of milk in one of the side pockets and a sippy cup of apple juice in the other. "Ready to go, Clint?"

"Mhmm," Clint answered, nodding. He put his jacket on before wrapping his blanket around his shoulders and hugging Esther.

"There are some toys in the diaper bag to keep you entertained, and you have pull-ups and a change of clothes. Anything else you can think of?"

"Hmm.... Nope."

"Okay. Can you carry the diaper bag for me, please?" Clint nodded and took the bag from his uncle while the latter lifted Steve, carefully into his arms. "Will you carry Steve's shoes too, please?" Clint grabbed those too before hugging his daddy tightly and saying bye. He followed Bucky into the elevator, eventually sitting in his car seat.

"Do you need help with your seatbelt?" Bucky asked from where he was buckling Steve in.

"No, Uncle Bucky. I can do it; I'm a big boy!"

"I know you are." Bucky reached over and ruffled Clint's hair before shutting the door and getting into the driver's seat.

"C'n we listen to music?"

"Of course, buddy." Bucky put the radio on and rolled his eyes when Taylor Swift started playing, but left it at Clint's request. "Did you have a good day, Clint?"

"Yeah. I gotta painted! It was fun! I painted a silly monster! I think my painting is in Daddy's car; I can show it to you later, Uncle Bucky."

"I would love to see your painting, Clint! I'm sure it's amazing."

Bucky talked quietly to his nephew for a few more minutes until he stopped getting answers. He looked at the boy in the mirror, smiling when he saw him sleeping with his head against his cousin's.

10 minutes from their destination, Steve woke up. He yawned loudly and stretched as much as he could in his car seat. Shifting his butt, he realized that his diaper was wet. He grimaced. He hates sitting in wet diapers. "Bucky?" He asked.

Bucky looked in the mirror again, seeing Steve is finally awake. "Good morning, sunshine."

"How long till we get there?"

"A few minutes. Why?"

"Did you by any chance bring any of my underwear that I could change in to?"

"Yup. In the diaper bag. You can go to the bathroom once we get there." Steve nodded, quietly, and squirmed, uncomfortably. He looked over at his cousin to get his mind off his diaper and noticed Clint sleeping with his thumb in his mouth. "Do I have any extra pacifiers in here? Clinty's sucking his thumb and Uncle Phil doesn't like when he does that. Well, he doesn't like when me and Bruce do, so I assume he wouldn't want Clint to do that either."

"Yeah. There's some in the diaper bag. If you can't reach it from there, just wait until we get inside."

Steve reached for the bag with his foot and took his favorite kitty pacifier (light pink with little cat faces on the shield) out of the side pocket, sticking it in Clint's mouth.

Bucky parked the car at S.H.I.E.L.D.'S parking lot, then opened Steve's door and unbuckled his seatbelt before going over to Clint. "Put your shoes on and carry the diaper bag, punk." Steve did as he was told and followed Bucky into the elevator, pressing the button for his therapist's floor. He shifted, uncomfortably in the wet diaper, sighing in relief when the elevator finally stopped and he saw that the bathroom was unoccupied.

Steve ran into the bathroom and locked the door before Bucky could try to follow him. He pulled his pants off and removed the wet diaper before wiping himself clean and putting on underwear. He washed his hands, fixed his pants, then went out to sit in the waiting room where Bucky was sitting with Clint cradled in his arms.

"I'm not sure Clint will appreciate waking up with a pacifier in his mouth," Bucky commented.

"Maybe not," Steve shrugged, "but he'd be a lot more upset if he got sick from sucking germs off his thumb. At least I gave him a clean pacifier and not the one I was using." Steve unclipped his pacifier from his shirt, handing it to Bucky, who shrugged and agreed.

A few minutes later, Tori's door opened. "Hello, Steve," she greeted, smiling. "Are you ready to come talk to me?"

Steve nodded and stood up, shyly. "Can we talk alone for a bit before Bucky comes in?"

"Of course. Whenever you're ready, we'll call him in."

Steve nodded and followed Tori into the room, curling up on the couch after hanging his jacket up and taking his shoes off.

"How have you been, Steve?"

"I've actually been pretty good, I think. And you?"

"I've been good as well, thank you. Bucky tells me you don't spend much time being big."

"Yeah, I don't really. Being big is scary sometimes. My cousins are little most of the time, anyway, and it's hard to be big when they're both little."

"I see.... Why is being big scary?"

Steve shrugged quietly. "I don't think _scary_ was the right word to use.... When I'm little, I don't notice anything about the world. I don't care about how the world has changed. I mean, I did at first, but I got used to it, so now I don't care. But when I'm big...I notice everything. I notice every difference between the 40's and 2012. There's a lot, and it's hard to deal with."

"Can you give me an example of some changes?" Tori reached for a notebook, but stopped in the middle of doing so. "You don't mind if I write this down, do you?"

"No, go ahead." Steve repositioned himself, sitting on his feet. He waited until Tori looked up at him with her pen ready. "Well...everything has changed. The buildings, cars, fashion. There's so many different styles of-of everything. People have changed a lot. They're a lot more open minded, which is good, but I've noticed there's still some as-uh-rude people and closed-minded people.... All of my friends from before are gone. I love my friends now, but I miss all my old ones...."

"You still see Peggy, don't you?"

"Yeah, I do. Maybe once a week. But she's getting old and her memory is starting to go.... Uncle Tony and I went to see her last weekend and she called Tony 'Howard'.... It upset all of us, but especially her when she realized what she had done."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Steve." Steve just shrugged and looked down at his lap.

"Everything has changed. Everything still is changing, everyday. It's hard. I was asleep for all of it; I don't understand anything. I'm so confused.... My family tries to help, and I appreciate that, but they don't help all that much."

"Have you tried to look stuff up on the internet? The internet really does have a lot, and it can be quite helpful."

"That's one of the things I don't understand. I could probably ask Uncle Tony or Aunt Tasha for help with that, though.... Maybe I will tomorrow."

"Good. And you could watch documentaries. There are tons of documentaries about anything you could think of."

"Okay. I'll watch some tomorrow. Thank you." Steve looked up, slightly more animated now and hopeful that he'll finally understand the world now.

"You're welcome, Steve. I asked you this last time you were here, but you were little then and didn't elaborate; maybe you'll even have a different answer this time: do you wish you were living back in the 40's?"

Steve was quiet for a minute while he thought. There are pros and cons to living in 2012.

Pros: People are more understanding and accepting. Littles are treated better and have a wider selection of everything they need and want. All people in general do, actually. Etc.  
Cons: All of Steve's old friends are either dead or can't remember him. He doesn't understand anything. He gets upset when people mention anything from the 40's....

"No. I think I like being here in 2012 better. I miss all my old friends and I'm really confused about...everything..., but I love all my friends now and I'm really happy about how accepting people are now and how much better Littles are treated now. Bucky used to have to change me standing up in a tiny bathroom stall, but now I can lay on a changing table in the bathroom. Actually, that's really kind of awkward if a stranger were to walk in and see, but I don't care when I'm little."

"Alright. It's good that you enjoy living in 2012 and that you can see some good things in the world now despite all the bad things."

Steve hummed.

"I know you've had some panic attacks while little, but have you had any while you're big?"

"Well, I haven't spent much time big since I woke up, so no. And I really hope I never do have one while I'm big. I hope I don't have any _more_ when I'm little. They're really scary...."

"I know. I hope you don't have anymore either. Do you know what causes you to have them?"

"Sometimes nightmares or being really cold.... I have panic attacks if snow gets in my face because I remember being _so_ cold and having my body slowly start to freeze and–" Steve started to hyperventilate and a few tears slipped out of his eyes. "I want Bucky...."

"Okay, Steve. I'll go bring him in. You can squeeze that pillow next to you if you'd like." Steve did so, burying his face into the Mario pillow while Tori opened the door and asked Bucky to come in.

"'S it alright if I move the coffee table to put him down?" Bucky asked, shifting Clint in his arms. Tori nodded and moved the table for him, laying a blanket out on the floor. Bucky placed Clint on his tummy on the blanket, gently rubbing his back for a few seconds when he started to stir.

Finally, Bucky sat next to Steve and pulled him into his arms. It took way too long to get his cuddles, in Steve's opinion. "You okay, buddy?" Bucky asked into Steve's hair.

Steve threw the pillow to the floor as he dove into his friend's chest and started lightly shaking. "Cold," he mumbled. Bucky rubbed his hands up and down Steve's arms, trying to warm him up. "I want Bear and Bunny and my blankie."

"I didn't bring Bear because he's so big, but Bunny and your blanket are in the diaper bag. Give me a second and I'll grab them." Bucky squeezed Steve's arm before grabbing the diaper bag to find the requested items. He handed them to Steve and let him hug them both and calm down for a minute before saying, "Steve, come to the bathroom with me for a minute."

"Clinty's sleeping here. We can't leave him alone."

"I know he is. He'll be fine with Tori for two minutes. Come on, Steve." Steve finally stood up, looking at his cousin sleeping with his butt in the air before following Bucky to the bathroom.

Bucky can tell Steve is starting to slip into his headspace, so he wants to get him in a pull-up incase he has an accident. "Here, buddy," he whispered, removing a pull-up from the diaper bag.

Steve whined, but removed his pants and underwear to put the pull-up on. He let Bucky dump some baby powder in the pull-up before he put his pants back on.

"Good boy," Bucky praised, hugging his friend tightly. "I'm proud of you for talking to Tori so well and asking for me when you needed me. Now let's go before Clint wakes up and freaks out when he's alone in a strange room without anyone he knows." Bucky patted Steve's back and lead him back to Tori's room.

Tori smiled at them both from where she was on her tablet in her chair.

"Sorry for leaving you alone with Clint, but thank you for watching him," Bucky said, bringing Steve to sit on the couch.

"That's alright. He just slept, anyway. He's started to snore," Tori smirked. "Bucky, you said you wanted to talk to me about something. Would you like to bring that up now?"

"Yeah." Bucky took a deep breath as he pulled a piece of paper and a photo out of the diaper bag and handed them to Tori. "Steve drew both of those. One of them was drawn this morning in the bath and the other was drawn about a week ago."

Tori nodded, quietly taking in the drawings. She showed them both to Steve after a minute. "Do you remember drawing these, Steve?"

"Yeah. I don't really remember everything from being little when I'm big and vice versa," Steve admitted. "But I remember those."

"It worried me when you started drawing those," Bucky explained. Steve frowned and hugged his friend. He feels bad for worrying him.

"Can you tell me a bit about these drawings, Steve?" Tori asked.

Steve inclined his head slightly, hands holding his blanket and bunny tightly. "Well, the Captain America in an ice cube one...that's just what happened to me. It was scary. I have nightmares about it and think about it lots.... It's really scary and bothers me a lot while I'm big, but it's a lot worse when I'm little.... But I don't wanna worry you, Buck, so I don't talk about it much."

"Steve, babe," Bucky frowned. "I'm going to worry more if you _don't_ talk to me about these things. I know it's scary and you think about it a lot, but I can't tell how it makes you think and how you react to it. I need you to talk to me and tell me that."

"'M sorry.... I'll try." Bucky squeezed Steve tightly and pressed his lips to the side of his head in a quick kiss.

"Drawing down your thoughts and feelings can help a lot," Tori explained. "It's called 'art therapy.' I'll talk about that a bit more later. But what about this one, Steve?" Tori held up the drawing Steve made this morning.

"Um...I really don't know what I was thinking for that one. I just started to draw a kitten and then...there were suddenly monsters and my cousins were screaming.... I still feel really bad about scaring them, but they said they forgive me, so I believe them."

"You don't think this means something?"

"I don't know. I don't think so. I usually don't like monsters when I'm little. I really don't know why I drew that."

"Alright, Steve. If you say you don't know, I won't push. But I would like to keep these–is that alright?"

Steve shrugged and hugged Bunny as Bucky nodded. Tori placed the pictures in her bag. The three of them looked down at Clint as he started to stir and eventually collapsed onto his left side, facing Steve and Bucky. He sighed deeply before opening his eyes. He smiled around the pacifier, reaching for Bucky.

Bucky smiled as he lifted Clint onto his lap, keeping him wrapped up in his blanket. "Hey, buddy. Did you have a good nap?"

"Mhmm," Clint hummed around the pacifier, resting his head against his uncle's shoulder. "Esther likes naps."

"Good. Maybe she'll start taking them more often."

"No, Uncle Bucky; Esther only sleeps when I do, n' I don' need naps because 'm a big boy."

"Right, sorry; I forgot. But what if she gets really really tired?"

"We'll cross that bridge wh'n we get to it."

Bucky laughed and hugged his nephew tightly. Steve head butted Bucky's arm, trying to join the hugs.

Bucky soon ended up with two babies on his lap.

"Daddy, why'd Clinty wanna come?" Steve wondered, realizing he hadn't asked that yet.

"To find out about something Tori is going to talk about." Bucky nodded at Tori to let her know she could start.

"I told Bucky over email about a group my Little, Joshua goes to once a week. He was in the army a few years ago, but he's retired now. He has PTSD and depression–like you, Steve–among other things. It's a therapy group to help out Littles who used to be in the army, or who were–or still are–part of S.H.I.E.L.D., going on missions. They play a lot of games there, play with toys, have puppet shows, have art therapy, watch movies.... Joshua really likes it; he says it's lots of fun and everybody is really nice and silly. One of the therapists was even a part of the army. Would either of you be interested in that?"

Neither of the boys on Bucky's lap said anything as they tried to take the information in.

"You don't have to go, of course; it's just an idea. You could always try to go a few times, then stop, or start going whenever you wanted. Also, it's okay to be little or big there; Joshua says he's never gone to a session where everybody is big or little at the same time. The sessions are every Thursday at 1:30. You two can think about it."

The boys nodded quietly, gasping when they heard their tummies growl.

"Thank you for talking about this with us, Tori," Bucky said practically into Steve's back. "If there's nothing else you or Steve want to talk about, then we'd better get going and feed these two munchkins." Bucky tickled both boys, making them giggle and squirm.

"No, there's nothing else I can think of for today," Tori said. "Is there anything you can think of, Steve?"

"Food."

"Alright. Go get some yummy food in your bellies; I'll see you soon, Steve."

"Bye-bye! See soon!" Steve jumped off of Bucky's lap to grab the three jackets from the coat rack. Bucky helped the boys put their jackets on and forced Steve's shoes back onto his feet before putting his own jacket on.

"Ready to go, boys? Let's go. Bye, Tori, I'll email you about Steve's next appointment." Bucky grabbed the diaper bag and led the boys into the elevator and finally into the car. "So what's for lunch?" He asked, clipping Steve's pacifier back onto his shirt after buckling both boys' car seats.

"Food, Daddy," Steve said around the monkey pacifier.

"Good choice. Clint, what do you want to eat, buddy?"

"C'n we go to McDonald's play place?" Clint asked, putting his pacifier in Bucky's hand.

"Sure. You two have to eat and not just play, though."

"Okay, Uncle Bucky. Do I have to go to that therapy group?"

"You don't _have_ to. Your daddy just wanted you to come find out about it. Nobody is going to force you to go to it."

"Can I?"

"If you want to, of course you can. Remember, Tori said you can stop or start going anytime you want."

"I want to."

"Okay, Clint. Would you like to tell your daddy about it or would you prefer I do it?"

"You, please, Uncle Bucky. Stevie, are you goin'?"

"No know.... Scary."

"It won't be scary. Tori said it's fun and the people are nice."

"Brucie be lonely."

"He'll be okay. He only ever wants Uncle Tony, anyway."

"That's not true," Bucky said. "Brucie loves you two."

"I know, Uncle Bucky, but if he had to choose between us and Uncle Tony, we'd be all alone."

"Both of you are the same way with your daddies. Don't make Bruce feel bad about wanting to be with his daddy."

Clint looked around the car. "Bruce isn't here, Uncle Bucky. And I would never make him feel bad on purpose."

"Good. Now let's go get some food and play."

\---

"Daddy, I'm sleepy," Clint pouted when he felt himself being poked awake.

"Don't you want to go to that group with your cousin?" Phil whispered, rubbing Clint's thigh, trying to wake him up more.

"I'd rather sleep."

"I'm not going to force you to go, Clint, but if you want to go then you have to get up now and get ready. Uncle Bucky wants to leave in 15 minutes."

Clint sighed as he turned onto his side to look at his daddy. "Sleepy, Daddy. Aren't naps s'posed ta make me not tired no more?"

"You'll feel better when you get up and start doing stuff. C'mon, bug."

Clint groaned as he sat up in bed. He watched Daddy move over to his dresser and pull some clothes out for him.

"Daddy, can I wear underpants today?" He hasn't had a daytime accident in two whole days! He thinks he's better now.

"When you get home you can wear underpants. I think you should wear a pull-up out, though, just incase you have an accident."

"I won't have one! Please, Daddy?"

"Don't yell; Bruce is sleeping next door. You can wear your underpants, but you need to remember to go potty often while you're out. I want you to go to the bathroom now while I finish getting your clothes out."

"Okay, Daddy!" Clint whisper-shouted. He jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom.

Seven minutes later, Clint was dressed in his TMNT underwear, a t-shirt with a crocodile saying "I'm very loud," jeans, and mismatched socks. He was whining and trying to squirm out of his daddy's arms to get away from the comb his hair was being attacked with.

"I don't like it, Daddy!" Clint whined. "Leave my hair alone!"

Phil finally let go of his little boy when he had his hair combed and somewhat styled. "Why do you have to be so difficult when I have to brush your hair?" He sighed.

Clint pouted, crossing his arms and glaring at his daddy. "My hair is mad at you, Daddy."

"Your hair will get over it. Go put your shoes on."

Clint stuck his tongue out and ran to his shoes when he felt a playful swat on his bottom.

"Do I have to go?" Steve whined, following Bucky around like a lost puppy.

"No. But I'm going to take Clint either way. I won't force you to go if you don't want to, though," Bucky explained.

"Stevie, are you not comin'?" Clint frowned when Steve shrugged. "But why not? It'll be fun. Tori said they do puppet shows and play games and do art therapy."

"I know.... I'll come if you want me to, Clint." It doesn't matter how big or little Steve is, he wants his big cousin (which Clint is always his big cousin even if Steve is big while Clint is little) to be happy. He and Bruce also tend to follow Clint around and do everything he tells them to, which makes Clint very happy, but his daddy and uncles and aunt said he can't treat his little cousins like slaves.

"Yeah! Please come?!"

"Okay, Clinty. I'll come. You won't mind if I stay big to go there, will you?"

"Nope! Just as long as you come!"

"Okay." Steve smiled at his cousin as he sat next to him on the floor to put his shoes on.

"Can I take Esther?"

"Sure, buddy," Bucky answered. "Just be careful that you don't lose her."

"I would never! I love Esther!" Clint hugged his elephant tightly and kissed her trunk.

"I bet Esther loves you more," Steve challenged.

"Nuh-uh! I love Esther the mostest!"

"More than you love me?" Steve is teasing of course; he knows Clint loves him.

"Well...Esther's been my bestest friend for 11 years and I love her lots and lots...but you're my baby cousin, so I love you more." Clint hugged Steve tightly, making the adults say "aww" and comment about how cute they are.

"I love you too, Clinty," Steve smiled into the other boy's shoulder.

"You two are sweet," Bucky smiled. "But we've gotta go now or we'll be late. Clint, say bye to Daddy."

"Bye, Daddy," Clint frowned, hugging his daddy tightly. "I love you."

"I love you too, bug," Phil replied, hugging back and kissing his little boy on the top of his head. "Be good, alright?"

"Okay, Daddy. Cuddles when I get home?"

"Of course."

Clint smiled and grabbed his cousin's and uncle's hands before walking into the elevator, balancing Esther on top of his head.

"I'm hungry, Uncle Bucky. Can we eat something before we go?"

"Yeah. The session doesn't start for another two and a half hours, anyway. I figured we could go get some pizza and maybe go to an arcade or something for a while."

"Yeah! That sounds awesome, Uncle Bucky! You have great ideas sometimes."

"I'm sorry– _sometimes_?"

"Yeah. You always make the babies take naps so I can't play with them and you never let us have ice cream or candy before dinner."

"Yeah," Steve agreed. "And I don't think spankings or timeouts are a good idea."

"Well, the babies need to sleep so they don't get cranky, and no candy or ice cream before dinner is your daddy's doing, Clint. And, Steve I'm not going to let you just run amuck and not get punished for it."

Both boys pouted.

"I'm gonna give Daddy a piece of my mind!" Clint declared, catching Esther when she fell off his head.

"You do that. Let me know what happens." Bucky swatted Clint's bottom to get him to go in the car.

"Everyone stop smacking my butt! My butt doesn't like it!"

Bucky rolled his eyes and turned to Steve who wasn't getting in the car. "Can I sit in the front?" He asked, hopeful.

Bucky sighed. "I guess so. Buckle your seatbelt, punk."

\---

"Can you come?" Steve asked when they got to the building the therapy group is meeting in.

"No, Steve, I'm sorry; this is for Littles, and I'm not Little. You don't have to go. You can stay with me while Clint goes."

"I wanna go, I just...want you to come."

"Sorry, Steve, I can't." Bucky soothingly rubbed Steve's back. "You'll be okay. You'll have fun. Clint will be with you. And I'll be right out here in the waiting room; if you need me, just tell one of the therapists and they'll take you to me. The same goes for you, Clint."

"Okay, Uncle Bucky! Can I get a hug too before we go?" Clint looked up at his uncle with wide, innocent eyes.

"Of course, buddy. C'mere." Bucky put one arm out and Clint walked into the group hug. "Alright. You two go have fun and be good."

Clint and Steve slowly walked through the door to where there were at least 6 different people running around, 5 just sitting and talking quietly, and one person with a crying Little on their lap.

"It's okay, Stevie," Clint promised when he felt his cousin squeeze his hand. "No one's gonna judge us or nothin'. Promise."

"I know," Steve whispered, standing a little closer to Clint. He knows he's being ridiculous, seeking comfort in a 5-year old when he's 18 years older than that right now, but he can't help it; his best friend—his protector since childhood—isn't here, so his big cousin is the next best thing.

"Stevie, I gotta go potty," Clint whined, bouncing lightly.

"Do you need me to come help?" Steve isn't asking to be mean (because he knows Clint likes to be a big boy and do these things himself); he genuinely wants to be there to help if he needs it. (He's also trying to stick close to his cousin as much as possible, but he mostly wants to be there to help just incase.)

"No! I'm a big boy! I can do it myself. You're a big boy, too; you can stay here by yourself for a minute. I'll be fast, Steve, I promise!" Clint handed Esther to Steve to hold for him while he goes potty, then ran towards the bathroom.

Steve frowned after his cousin. He doesn't want to be alone with all these strangers! He stood completely still, hoping if he doesn't move, no one will see him. That didn't work out so great as somebody walked up to him, curiously. He looks kind of mean, Steve observed as he squeezed Esther.

"Who are you? I've never seen you here before," the kid said.

"I'm Steve. What about you?"

"I'm Mason.... How old are you?"

"Two, but I'm big right now; I'm 23."

"Well, I'm 11, and I'm the oldest person here, so you have to listen to me."

"Um, no.... First of all, I'm big right now, so I don't have to listen to anyone. Second of all, only my daddy, uncles, aunt, and big cousin can tell me what to do. And I don't even listen to them half the time."

The kid glared at Steve before reaching into his pants and pulling his underwear up high. Steve gasped and started crying as he saw Clint run out of the bathroom.

"C-Cwinty!"

Steve hadn't been feeling exactly big today–like he was walking on a tightrope, swaying from big to little, and the slightest gust of wind could knock him off into his Little side. This was a big gust of wind. He wants his cousin and his daddy and Bear....

"Hey!" Clint yelled, running over. "Leave my baby cousin alone!" He pushed the meanie-head away and pulled Steve into his arms, hugging him tightly.

The therapists' attention was drawn over to the three kids and one of them ran over. "What's going on over here?" He asked.

"He pushed me!" Mason exclaimed, pointing at Clint.

"Only because he gave my baby cousin a wedgie and made 'im cry!" Clint defended.

"I think we need to have a little talk with your Caregivers. Let's go do that while everyone finishes arriving and getting settled, then we'll start."

"The baby needs to be taked care of first," Clint explained, gently rubbing Steve's cheek to soothe him.

"Daddy?" Steve sniffled. Clint nodded and picked Steve up, grunting quietly as he carried him out to all the Caregivers.

"What happened?" Bucky frowned, jumping up and taking Steve from his nephew.

"This meanie gived Steve a wedgie and made him cry!" Clint explained with his arms crossed.

"And then he pushed me!" Mason reminded.

"Mason, what have I told you about behaving here?" His Caregiver demanded.

"I gotta behave or I get grounded," Mason mumbled.

"That's right. Now, apologize and then come here."

"I'm sorry I gave you a wedgie and made you cry," Mason said to Steve, who sniffed and pressed his face into his daddy's neck, squirming uncomfortably.

"That's alright," Bucky accepted the apology. "You apologize too, Clint. You should know better than to push someone."

"But he–" Clint began.

"Do you want me to tell Daddy about this? Then apologize and drop it."

"I'm sorry for pushin' you," Clint mumbled, kicking the ground.

"It's okay," Mason whispered.

"Alright. Good. Clint, grab the diaper bag and let's go change your cousin."

Bucky walked into the bathroom with Steve in his arms and Clint following behind him.

Steve whimpered and started crying again when he felt his pants get wet. Bucky sighed and gently rocked the baby until he was calm again, then he placed him on the changing table.

"Sowwy, Daddy," Steve sniffled, rubbing his eyes.

"It's okay, baby boy. I'm not mad; it was just an accident."

Clint stood next to his baby cousin's head and played with him and Esther while he got changed out of his wet clothes. Bucky wiped Steve clean before putting a diaper and a Mickey Mouse onesie on.

"Uncle Bucky, are you gonna tell Daddy I was bad?" Clint worried as he watched Bucky slip sweatpants up the baby's legs.

"Nah. We'll keep it a secret. Right, baby?" He asked, tickling Steve's tummy.

Steve giggled and nodded. "Shh, secwet." He held a finger over his lips, then opened his mouth eagerly for the monkey pacifier Clint held up.

"That's right, Stevie. Just don't push anyone again, Clint. If someone upsets you or Steve, you need to tell an adult and let them take care of it."

"Okay, Uncle Bucky. I'll be good from now on. Promise."

"Alright, buddy. Can you put Steve's socks on for him and help him down while I change my shirt?"

Clint nodded and did as he was asked while Bucky took off his pee-stained shirt and put all the wet clothes in a plastic bag. He cleaned his side with baby wipes and put Steve's spare shirt on.

"Alright. Ready to go?"

Clint and Steve both nodded, holding hands as they walked back into the meeting room.

There were at least 20 people besides the therapists, Little and big, male and female. Everybody was sat in a circle on the floor. Clint and Steve joined, sitting next to each other while also being as far from Mason as possible.

"I see we have some new friends today," one of the therapists smiled. "How about we go around the circle and introduce ourselves and say one thing we like to do. I'm also going to assign everyone a certain color or shape or animal. Everyone will get some little chips and a necklace of the thing you've been assigned to. When someone says something you like too, you'll give them one of your chips. The necklace is for later so you remember what your thing you were assigned was incase you forget."

The therapist took a few minutes to assign the chips and hand them out (Clint's color was purple and Steve got puppies). Finally, he said, "Okay, there we go. I'll start. I'm Sam and I like running; the air moving past you and around your body–I like the way that feels.... We'll go this way. You're up." He pointed at a girl next to him.

"I'm Madison and–do I say my age?"

"You can if you want to, but you don't have to," Sam replied.

"Okay. I'm Madison and I'm 6. I like dressing up in my princess clothes with Mommy and my little brother and sister!"

"Who's your favorite princess?" Another girl asked, standing up to give her a chip (yellow).

"Ummm, I think I like Ariel!"

"Awesome! I love her!"

8 other people (boys and girls) handed Madison chips and then they went on to the next person.

Clint was the eleventh person to introduce himself. He said, "I'm Clint and I'm 5 years old! I like playing with my daddy and baby cousins and I like pizza!" Everybody gave him a chip and Steve gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Your turn, Stevie." Clint smiled and gently rubbed his cousin's back.

"'M Steve. I'm dis many." He held up two fingers. "I like...uh...I dunno."

Clint and the therapists frowned.

"You don't know what you like?" Sam asked and Steve shrugged. "There's gotta be something. What about your cousin?"

"Yeah!" Clint frowned. "What about me and Brucie and Uncle Bucky and everyone?"

"I no wike you, I love you!" Clint smiled widely and hugged his cousin tightly, telling him he loves him too so so much! "I wike...cuddles wif Daddy. He good at cuddlin'."

Steve got chips from almost everybody except for a couple of people. He pressed himself into Clint's side and held Esther's tail (since he didn't have his own toys) when Mason gave him a chip.

After the introductions, Sam told everyone to go talk to someone who had similar interests as them for a few minutes.

Clint stood up and pulled Steve up too. "You can hold onto Esther if you want, Stevie," Clint whispered.

"Otay. Thank you, Clinty." Steve kissed his cousin's cheek and hugged Esther tightly before waddling off to talk to people with the same interests as him.

After about ten minutes, everyone was called back to the circle and Steve sat on Clint's lap this time. He talked to like new six people! That's too many for one day.

"Okay. We're going to go around the room and do stations now, so I'll have to split you up into four groups of five, I think. We're going to have a puppet show at one station, another will be art therapy, one will be writing a play which you will get to perform in a later session. The last station will be something called 'I feel blank like a blank.' You will get to draw what it's describing. All of these stations will be explained more when you're there. Also, we have a limited amount of time, so we'll only be able to get through two stations today, but we'll finish the last two next time and then you can all preform your plays. Alright, everyone remember the number I give you now."

Steve's eyes widened when he realized he'll probably be separated from his big cousin. He doesn't want to! He wants to stay with Clint! Maybe if he hides his face Sam won't see him and he'll get to stay with Clint.

"Clint you're 3, Steve 4–"

Steve bursted into sobs.

Clint looked a this baby cousin, worriedly and hugged him tightly, trying to calm him down.

One of the therapists (Gabby) stood up and walked over to Clint and Steve. "Let's go have a little talk over there, boys," she suggested quietly, forcing Steve to stop crying so loud so he could hear her. 

"Come on, Stevie, it's okay," Clint said, dragging the baby over to the cubbies where everyone hung up their jackets and put their shoes.

"Can you tell me why you're crying, Steve?" Gabby asked in a quiet, calm tone.

"W-wanna be wif Cwinty," Steve choked out, still crying lightly. "T-too many new people; scary. Want Cwinty."

"I see.... Don't you want to make some new friends?" Steve shrugged. "You're going to be with new people either way, but if you really want to, we could put you in a group with your cousin."

"It will be okay, Stevie. You can be with me," Clint assured.

"N-no. It's otay; can be bwave."

"Okay, Steve. You'll be okay. You can keep Esther while we're here; she'll protect you." Clint hugged Steve tightly and kissed his face while Gabby got a face wipe and cleaned Steve's face.

"Your group is 4, right, Steve? You'll be with me. We're going to do art therapy."

Steve hummed and waddled to the art table with Gabby and Esther. The other people in his group were already there. Steve sat down and placed his pacifier in his mouth to show the people in his group that he doesn't want to talk right now.

"Alright. Everyone pick some colored paper you want to use and grab some safety scissors," Gabby instructed. Once everyone did this, she showed them how to cut out petals for a flower. Gabby gave everyone a yellow circle for the center of the flower and helped the younger Littles glue the petals to their circles. "Everyone is going to write or draw something that makes them happy or they like doing on the petals now. You can have more petals if you want."

Everyone grabbed some markers and crayons and got to work. Except for Steve. He cuddled Esther and sucked on his pacifier, staring down at his flower as if it was going to jump off the table and attack him.

"You're Steve, right?" A boy asked, sitting next to Steve with his flower and crayons. Steve nodded. "My Mommy is your therapist. I'm Joshua."

"Hi," Steve whispered around his pacifier.

"Why aren't you coloring?"

"Dunno whata cowor."

"What makes you happy?"

"No know." Steve frowned.

That's not true. He knows his family and Bear and Bunny and his blanket make him happy, but he can't think of anything else. He looked at everyone else's flowers and saw toys, super heroes, princesses, and a lot of other things....

"What about cuddling your daddy?"

Steve hummed and nodded, starting on a quick portrait of Daddy. It was a little bit hard to do because he was using crayons when he usually uses pencils for portraits. Afterwards, he started on the rest of his family, then Bear and Bunny and his blanket.

"How old are you, Steve?"

"Two."

"Right. I'm 7. Do you like talking to my mommy?"

"Mhmm. She nice. We pway games s'metimes."

"That's good! Me and Mommy have game night every Sunday. It's fun."

"C'n't pway little pieces games wif my baby cousin. He eated Candy Land."

"Was he okay?" Joshua asked, worried.

Steve nodded. "Passeded it few days."

"Good. Kind of gross, but good. Do you like playing games?"

"Yeah! Fun! Don't win lots, though." Steve pouted, but grabbed some markers to shakily write 'GAYMZ' with the 'Z' backwards and each letter in a different color.

"What about food?"

"No. No wike eatin' lots."

"Why?" Steve shrugged and sucked hard on his pacifier. "Well, what's your favorite thing you _do_ like to eat?"

"Bacon, dino nuggets, cookies.... Like bakin' wif Aunt Tasha lots. And dinos." Steve drew a T-Rex holding bacon and cookies on another petal.

"Dinosaurs are awesome! And so are cookies. I'm not allowed to make 'em alone–or help much–because I ate an entire bowl of cookie dough once and got real sick." Joshua held his stomach, obviously remembering the traumatizing experience.

"Cookie dough good?" Believe it or not, Steve has never eaten cookie dough. His hands are always washed before he can lick anything off them and then the bowl is in the sink. When he's big (not that he makes cookies big much, anyway) he doesn't see the point in risking salmonella. Little Steve doesn't care, but he's never gotten the chance to try cookie dough.

"Yeah! It's really good! Just don't eat a whole bowl of it or you'll get a tummy ache."

"Otay."

"What's your favorite animal?"

Steve sucked on his pacifier as he thought. Finally, he said, "all uh dem. Weally like puppies, though!"

"Puppies are cool! I like them a lot, but I'm allergic to them, so I can't have one or pet them."

Steve frowned. That's so sad! Puppies are awesome and so soft and fun! He wants a puppy now.... He'll talk to Daddy about it some day.

"Why?" He asked.

"Because I get itchy and it's hard to breathe, then I need a shot."

Steve frowned harder. That doesn't sound fun at all.

The boys continued to talk and decorate their flowers (Steve eventually needed more petals because his were full of animals, etc.), then they had to rotate to the next station.

Steve and Joshua, along with Maddy, Alisha, and Danny, went to station one which was the puppet show with Sam.

The six of them took turns putting on puppet shows, then Sam, Steve, Joshua, Maddy, and Alisha put one on together for Danny, who was the youngest Little there (7 months old).

Eventually, Gabby told everyone their time was up for today and they had to clean up now. Everyone whined and pouted, but helped to clean up.

"Okay, everyone, let's sit back in our circle," Gabby said.

Steve ran to his cousin, tackling him to the floor, smiling. Clint giggled and hugged Steve tightly, sitting them both up. Steve sat on Clint's lap, leaning against his chest while he sucked on his pacifier.

"Good baby," Clint hummed.

"Okay everyone," another therapist, Jade, said. "We're going to go around now and say something that we liked doing today–it doesn't have to be something we did here, though. We end every session like this," she explained to the newcomers.

"I go first?" Steve asked around his pacifier.

"Of course," Jade smiled.

Steve hugged Esther, wishing he had Bear. He spit his pacifier out and smiled as Clint rubbed his back. "I wiked colorin' and the puppet shows and talkin' to Joshua. I also wiked pizza and arcade wif Daddy and Cwinty. Lotsa fun." Steve yawned quietly as he cuddled into Clint's chest.

"I liked gettin' pizza and going to the arcade with you and Uncle Bucky too!" Clint smiled. "And I liked making new friends today, and especially liked makin' our play. It's gonna be awesome!"

Clint's group members agreed that their play is going to be amazing.

Steve cuddled his big cousin and gently rubbed Esther's ears while he listened to everyone say what they liked doing today. He eventually fell asleep on his cousin's lap.

\---

"Did you have fun today, bug?" Phil asked, pulling Clint in for a hug when he got home.

"Yeah! I had lotsa fun, Daddy! Uncle Bucky took me and Steve to get pizza and go to an arcade, and then at therapy, I made some new friends and we writed a play to perform at the session after the next one! It was really fun, Daddy," Clint smiled.

"Good. I'm glad you had fun. It looks like Steve had fun too," Phil commented when he saw that Steve was asleep in Bucky's arms.

"Mhmm. Except for when a kid gived him a wedgie and he didn't wanna go to a different group than me, but he went and he had fun. He even maked a friend!"

"That's good."

Clint nodded and yawned widely.

"How about we go take a little nap together, bug?"

"I don't–" Clint yawned again, even bigger this time. He doesn't actually _want_ a nap because he's a big boy and he doesn't need naps, but Daddy probably is super tired.... Maybe he could just lay down with him for a while and cuddle him. "Okay, Daddy." Clint stretched his arms up, waiting for Daddy to pick him up.

Phil wasn't expecting Clint to fall asleep in the elevator up to his personal floor, but he smiled when he felt the comforting weight of his little boy's head against his shoulder.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ps: (not that this is happening for a few more chapters and i'll probably say this again when it does actually happen but)  
> I do not feel like writing out the entire Avengers movie (coming idk when, maybe 3 or so more chapters) and adding these characters and changing stuff. I'm too lazy for that. So i'll skip writing the movie, but it will basically be the same. You can just imagine these characters meeting Thor and Loki and all that good stuff. Also, I refuse to kill Phil. Clint needs his daddy.  
> good luck with your lives and have a fantastic day. i'll go back to my cave to write and see you again in April


	16. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: hitting (Bruce hits his cousins), spankings, reference to child abuse, sick babies, mentions of vomiting  
> Let me know if I need to add any other warnings and I will, but I think this is all of them for this chapter (?)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there. It's been a while.  
> I swear these notes get more awkward every time c': (I'm sorry.. also why do I do these at the beginning? IDK but oh well... just tell me if you would rather me do these at the end and I will, but for now)  
> ANYWAYS  
> This chapter was originally going to be earlier (like 8?) with the babies being sick, then I was like "nah, I'll wait a couple chapters to make the kids suffer" so now it's chapter 13  
> I have chapter 14 started (I'll post it the Monday after next if I finish it) and I plan on writing a bonus for 14. I have an idea for 15, but I MIGHT wait a few more chapters and have the Avengers movie happen instead...  
> For the Avengers movie, I'm too damn lazy to write the whole thing and add my version of the characters in it, so I'll just give a little bullet pointed list of all the events.   
> ALSO spring break starts on Friday, so I'll try to write a lot over break ^^  
> And...I started a new [Avengers age play] story a few days ago (I actually have 3 chapters done), but I don't know if I want to post it bc it's kind of poorly written compared to this and it's triggering for some people, so... but if enough people want me to I'll consider posting it  
> Okay. I'm going to go listen to Bo Burnham now and stop rambling c:  
> Enjoy this chapter c:

"No," Bruce insisted from where he was sat on top of Steve's back and had Clint locked in a death grip. "No weave me."

"Brucie poo, come here," Tony pleaded when Steve started crying harder and Clint tried to bite his youngest cousin.

"No! Wan' S'eve n' Cwinty!"

"They're not leaving forever, Bruce," Bucky explained. "Just for a little bit to go to therapy."

" _No!_ "

"You'll get Daddy all to yourself. No stinky cousins to share him with. I'll even make you cookies and let you help if you want," Natasha bribed.

"Nope! Wan' cousins!"

Steve began sobbing and Clint tried to pinch Bruce's bare thigh to make him let go, but instead, this caused Bruce to hit both of his cousins as hard as could. Don't let Bruce's appearance fool you; he's very strong!

Steve's sobs transformed into full blown wails and Clint began crying too.

"Robert Bruce Banner!" Tony scolded.

Bruce winced and stopped hitting his cousins upon hearing his daddy's loud, disapproving tone scream out his full name. He slowly turned to face him, shaking slightly. As a child, his father would beat him, lock him in dark closets with little to no food for days at a time, among other horrible things. Tony assured he would never do any of that to him, but he still gets scared when he gets in trouble. Luckily, he doesn't get in trouble very often, but he's definitely in trouble right now....

Bruce worriedly looked at Tony as he was lifted up from under his armpits. "Dada," he whimpered.

"Bruce, you need to apologize to your cousins and then you need to go sit in timeout for 3 minutes."

"No 'pankin's?" Bruce whimpered.

"I don't know yet. For now, just apologize and go sit in timeout, please."

Bruce sniffled and looked at both of his cousins. "Sowwy," he whispered. "Wuv you."

"We love you too, Bruce," Clint promised from where he was cuddled up in Natasha's chest. Steve nodded in agreement from Bucky's lap, but was still crying too hard to tell Bruce he loves him lots and lots.

"Good boy. Now go sit in the corner." Tony placed Bruce on the floor and gently patted his butt. "JARVIS will start the timer when you're sat down there."

Bruce waddled over to the corner and plopped down on his butt to sulk while Tony checked on his nephews to make sure they were okay.

"I'm okay, Uncle Tony, but I really want Daddy," Clint sniffled.

"I know you do. He'll be home tomorrow," Tony whispered, bringing Clint into his arms for a hug. "He's on a very important mission right now. But I heard that he might be bringing you a surprise home tomorrow...."

"Really?!" Clint perked up and Tony nodded. "What is it?!"

"It's a secret. You'll find out tomorrow." Clint whined and fell back against Natasha's chest. "Are you okay, Steve? Hmm?" Tony gently rubbed Steve's knee.

"Yah," Steve sniffed. "Want Bear."

"I can do that. I'll be right back with your bear. Anyone want anything else while I'm up?"

Clint asked for apple juice and Steve requested chocolate milk. Tony nodded and quickly grabbed the requested items right as the timer JARVIS had set went off.

"Bruce, you can come out now."

Tony sat on the couch and watched Bruce waddle over to him. The poor baby's diaper is probably full.

"I sowwy, Daddy," Bruce whispered, playing with his hands.

"I know you are, baby. Look, I know you want to play with your cousins, but they're going to therapy. You could go with them if you want."

"Yeah! You should!" Clint exclaimed. "It'll be fun!"

"No," Bruce whispered, shaking his head. "Too much people, too scary, no wanna hurt no one if Hulk...."

Clint frowned. "I think it would be okay. You don't gotta talk to no one if you don't want. And me and Stevie will be there to protect you! You can even bring Dex!"

"No pwease. Wanna stay home."

"Okay," Clint frowned.

"Brucie," Tony continued. "You should not have hit your cousins. That's naughty. You could have hurt them very badly."

Bruce dropped his head. "I sowwy."

"I know. I don't want you to ever hit them again."

"I won't, Daddy."

"I know you won't, baby. But just to make sure, you're getting a spanking to remind you of what will happen if you ever do it again." Bruce whined. "Shh, I know. You're only getting 6. Next time it will be more."

"Daddy," Bruce whined.

"I know, baby. We're going to go to your room. We'll get you cleaned up before we start your spanking."

"No!" Steve exclaimed. "Don't spank my baby!" He jumped up and hugged Bruce tightly. Bruce cuddled into his big cousin's chest. "He no need spankin', Unca Tony! Good baby!"

"Steve," Bucky sighed. "Let Uncle Tony take care of Bruce how he deems necessary, not how _you_ deem necessary."

"No. My baby."

"It's hard to believe you didn't want a little cousin a few months ago," Bucky sighed.

"Baby," Steve hummed, ignoring his daddy to cuddle Bruce. "Babies no should get spankin's, Unca Tony."

Tony sighed. "Steve, Bruce needs to know what will happen if he hits you and Clint again. It's just 6 quick smacks. He needs a new diaper anyway."

"No. He jus' a baby."

"I'll bring it down 2 smacks, but he's getting spanked either way."

Steve hummed and kissed his baby's cheek. "Wuv you, Bwucie. It will be otay."

Bruce stuck his thumb in his mouth and squeezed Steve before walking to Tony and lifting an arm up.

Tony picked his baby up on his hip and carried him to his room and off to his doom.

"Uncle Bucky, when d'we gotta leave?" Clint asked, trying to get his mind off the fact that one of his babies is about to get spanked.

"15 minutes," Bucky shrugged, standing up to wrap his arms around Steve. "Can you watch your cousin for a few minutes while I go pack the diaper bag?"

"Yeah! Want me to dress him for you?"

"Nah, that's alright. I need to change his diaper first. You can finish feeding him his bottle, if you want to, though."

Steve usually drinks his bottles by himself, but every once in a while, he doesn't want to do it himself and he wants someone to help feed him.

"Okay, Uncle Bucky! Come here, baby Stevie!" Clint sat on the couch where Bucky had placed Steve's bottle and patted his lap. Steve settled himself on his cousin's lap and opened his mouth for the bottle. Clint placed the nipple of the bottle in Steve's mouth and gently rubbed his side while he drank.

"You're a good baby," Clint whispered into Steve's hair.

"Notta baby, Cwinty," Steve insisted when he finished his bottle. "Bwucie a good baby, though."

"You're both my good babies." Clint hugged his little cousin tightly and kissed his cheek.

Steve huffed, crossing his arms. "I notta baby, wight, Auntie Tasha?"

"Of course you're not a baby, Steve. You're such a big boy," Natasha smiled. "C'mere; come get a cuddle."

Steve eagerly ran to his aunt, plopping down next to her and cuddling into her side.

"Hey!" Clint pouted. "You stealed my baby cousin!"

Natasha hummed, pressing her face into Steve's soft, feathery hair, meanwhile Steve stuck his tongue out at his cousin and draped a leg over his aunt. Clint huffed and glared at Steve.

"Fine! Then I'll just steal your daddy, Stevie!" Clint jumped up and into Bucky's arms, forcing his uncle to catch him and look around, confused.

"Why am I being stolen?" Bucky questioned, adjusting the little boy on his hip.

"Because Aunt Natasha stealed Steve from me."

"Dat's otay," Steve stated, snuggling further into Natasha. She's warm and cuddly and really good at giving hugs, Steve observed. He loves his aunt a lot. "You c'n have him, Clinty."

"Wow, rude much? You little punk."

"Sowwy, Daddy. Wuv you."

"No, that's alright; I see how much you want to cuddle me. That's fine, you keep Nat; I'll keep Clint," Bucky teased.

"No, Dada! Wuv you!" Steve disentangled himself from Natasha a bit (just a bit–he still wants to cuddle her lots and lots) to look at his daddy.

"I know; I love you too, babe."

"What about me?!" Clint pouted, crossing his arms again.

"We love you too, Clinty," Bucky promised.

"Yeah," Natasha agreed. "We all love each other."

"C'n I have hugs then?" Clint asked.

"I'm sorry, are my hugs not good enough for you?" Bucky teased, tickling Clint's tummy as he carried him to sit next to Natasha. Clint draped himself across the three of them, cuddling close.

Finally, Tony carried a red-eyed Bruce out and sat next to Steve with the baby on his lap. Bruce immediately dove into Steve's chest, crying.

"What you do my baby?" Steve demanded, hugging Bruce tightly.

"I told you he was getting spanked," Tony sighed. "He even agreed that he should be. He didn't like it, but I only smacked him four times and not hard at all. This red eyes thing is mostly because he didn't want to get changed out of his Mickey shirt."

"Why change him then?"

"Because he's worn that shirt for the last three days. It was time to change it."

"Mickey."

"What about Winnie the Pooh? He's good too, right?"

"Yeah, but that's not even Winnie, Uncle Tony," Clint sighed in a _duh_ tone. "That's _Eeyore_."

"Oh, right. It's been a while since I watched or read any of that."

"Mickey," Bruce sniffled.

"Bruce, I will wash your Mickey shirt for you tonight and you can wear it tomorrow."

Bruce collapsed on Steve and Natasha's laps, fake-crying.

Steve looked down at the baby on his lap, worriedly. Natasha just sighed and pulled him onto her lap. "You're a little drama king, aren't you, Bruce?" She teased, tickling the baby's sides and tummy.

Bruce giggled and lightly kicked his legs. "Aunt Tasha!" He giggled. "Stop! Pwease!"

Natasha smiled as she finally stopped tickling the boy and hugged him tightly. "Do you still want to make cookies with me, Bruce?"

"Mhmm. Mickey cookies?"

"Of course, buddy."

"You and that darn mouse," Tony mumbled, crossing his arms as he plopped down in a chair.

"Go get washin' Mickey shirt so can wear, Daddy," Bruce commanded.

Everyone apart from Tony laughed. "If you talk to me like that again the only thing you'll be wearing is a red butt, Bruce."

"Sowwy, Daddy," Bruce whispered, hiding his face in Natasha's chest.

"It's okay, baby. Come to Daddy now; your cousins have to leave in a minute and Steve's not dressed yet."

Steve crawled over his older cousin's lap onto his daddy's, shaking slightly. He loves his baby cousin, but he doesn't want to be sat on and hit again, and that's what happened last time Uncle Tony told the baby he was leaving soon.

Instead of doing that again, Bruce slid off of Natasha's lap and crawled to Tony, sitting on his feet and thrusting his arms into the air and shouting, "Uppy!" Tony quickly complied, putting his baby on his lap and nuzzling his face into Bruce's soft, curly hair.

"I love you, baby boy," Tony whispered.

"Wuv you too, Daddy!" Bruce cuddled into his daddy, falling asleep before anyone could even blink.

"I guess tormenting your cousins takes a lot out of you," Bucky hummed as he slipped a "Daddy's Little Man" onesie and comfy jeans made specially for Littles onto Steve.

"It takes a lot outta us too, Uncle Bucky," Clint yawned.

"I bet. Clint, can you go potty and put a pull-up on if you think you need one while I finish getting Steve ready?"

"Mhmm. I don't need a pull-up, though, Uncle Bucky. I'm a big boy!"

"I know you are, buddy. Now get goin'; we gotta leave in a minute."

Clint nodded and ran to the bathroom, suddenly realizing he really had to go.

"Bring Bear?" Steve asked, looking up at his daddy with wide, innocent blue eyes.

"Sure, baby. Let's put your shoes and jacket on, then you can go get him."

"Otay, Dada. I bwing Es too for Cwinty?"

"Clint can get Esther if he wants to bring her. Ask him when he gets out of the bathroom."

"Kay." Steve crawled behind the couch and threw himself down onto Bear.

"Me and Esther are ready to go, Uncle Bucky! Is Stevie ready yet?" Clint called, quietly so as not to disturb Bruce, as he ran out of the bathroom with Esther tucked into his shirt.

"Yeah. Put your shoes and jacket on and let's go, buddy." Bucky lifted Steve onto his hip and held Clint's hand. He turned to Natasha and Tony while they waited for JARVIS to bring the elevator up. "Alright, we'll be back later. Good luck with the bratty baby."

Tony grunted and glared at Bucky as Bruce kicked him in his sleep.

\---

Bucky was not happy, walking into the nursery with a crying two-year old on his back. Said two-year old has been crying for almost an hour without stopping.

"Woah, what's this about?" Tony frowned, looking up from where he was building a throne for Dex while Bruce pampers his dolphin.

"Stevie is sad that he can't perform his play until next week," Clint explained, plopping down next to his baby cousin.

"And he didn't take a nap today, so he's overtired," Bucky sighed. He dropped Steve onto the couch, which just made the toddler cry harder. "Steve, I'm just going to get you a bottle so we can cuddle and try to take a nap. Does that sound good?"

"No! Wanna do pway!" Steve sobbed as he reached for his daddy.

Bucky sighed. "I'm making you a bottle anyway. I'll be right back, baby."

Bucky walked away and by the time he returned with a bottle of warm milk, Steve was asleep on the floor behind the couch.

"How's this one been?" Bucky asked, pointing his chin at Bruce as he lifted Steve into his arms to put him in his crib.

"Better after he had a nap. He slept most of the time you were gone, then made some cookies with Nat. Apart from one crying incident when he wasn't allowed to eat the cookie dough, he's been good and happier."

"I see. He probably got wanting to eat cookie dough from Steve, so sorry for that. I don't know where Steve got it from, though. He's never been interested in cookie dough until about a week ago." Bucky shrugged and brought Steve to his room, carefully placing him on the changing table and later in his crib when he was in a clean diaper and pajamas.

"Uncle Bucky, can I have juice please?" Clint asked when Bucky returned.

"Me too?!" Bruce asked, jumping onto his knees.

"Sure, boys. I'll be right back. Want anything, Tony?"

Tony sighed deeply. He's got a lot on his mind with work and also S.H.I.E.L.D. told him the Avengers might need to get together soon for something. "Alcohol, which I can't have around the kids."

Littles aren't allowed to be around alcohol or around people who are drinking. They're allowed to when they're big and can even drink a little (not enough to get them drunk, however), but when they're in their Little headspace, it's against the law for them to be around alcohol.

"Maybe some coffee would be nice, though.... Thanks, Buck."

"No problem," Bucky hummed and walked into the kitchen, greeting Natasha who was doing dishes with a kiss on the cheek.

"Was that Steve I heard crying?" Natasha asked.

"Yeah," Bucky sighed. "He wouldn't nap on the way there, then he was upset that he couldn't perform the play he wrote with his friends today and cried the whole way home. He's asleep now."

"Poor baby," Natasha whispered.

"He'll be over it by the time he wakes back up," Bucky shrugged, taking the sippy cups of juice and mug of coffee back into the play room.

\---

"Uncle Tony?" Clint asked in a small, sad voice.

"Yeah, Clint? Why are you still up, buddy?" Tony finally plopped down on the couch after cleaning up the kids' toys. He and Bucky put the kids to bed 45 minutes ago. Clint was tucked in and read a story to by Tony, but he obviously didn't fall asleep when he said he was going to.

"When's Daddy coming home?" Clint sounds and looks like he's trying to hold back tears, Tony observed.

Tony held his arms out, catching Clint when he ran and threw himself onto his lap.

"Miss Daddy," Clint sniffled.

Tony felt his shoulder start to get wet and he gently rubbed the boy's back in an attempt to calm him. "I know you do. He should be coming back tomorrow morning."

"...what if he doesn't? I hadda scary dream last night, Uncle Tony, about you and Daddy and Aunt Tasha and everyone.... Y-you falled from a hole in the sky and Daddy d-d-"

Clint bursted into sobs.

"Shh, it's okay, buddy," Tony whispered, standing up to rock Clint in his arms and continue to rub his back. "That will never happen. Nothing is going to happen to us, I promise. We'll all be okay. Know why? Hmm?"

Clint gently shook his head, but his cries were reduced to sniffles and occasional tears falling.

"Because Daddy, Aunt Natasha, and your uncles are around. We're all protecting you and your cousins and each other. We won't let anything happen to any of us."

Tony pressed a kiss to the top of Clint's head and gently wiped tears out of his eyes. "Wanna go to sleep now?" Clint hummed and nodded. "Alright, buddy." Tony carried Clint to the bathroom and helped him change his damp pull-up.

"Can I sleep with Brucie?"

"I suppose so. Do you wanna go get Esther from your room?"

Clint nodded and wrapped his legs around his uncle's waist to show him that he doesn't want to be put down yet.

Tony carried Clint to his room and let him grab Esther and his blanket from his bed. Tony then brought his nephew to Bruce's room, placing him down in the spacious crib. Bruce yawned cutely as he curled into his cousin's side.

Tony carefully stroked Clint's hair. "Goodnight, Clint. Sleep good." He pulled the blanket over both boys before leaving them to sleep.

\---

Bruce woke up in the morning, laying on top of something soft and cushiony. His mattress isn't usually this comfy....

He opened his eyes and smiled down at his cousin. Bruce sat up on Clint's tummy and gently shook him awake.

"Clinty, wakey wakey!"

Clint whined and turned onto his side, making the baby fall off him.

" _Clinty_!" Bruce whined, resting his upper body over Clint's. "Wake _up!_ "

"Bruce," Phil whispered, opening the door. "Leave Clint alone for a bit; it's still early. C'mere, buddy." He took Bruce out of the crib, placing him on the changing table and changing his diaper.

"Mickey shirt, pwease, Unca Phil?"

"Sure, bud. Arms up. Good boy." Phil pulled the Eeyore shirt off, replacing it with a Mickey Mouse one. "Steve's awake; let's go play with him until more people are awake for breakfast."

"Us make breakfast? Pancakes?"

"We'll see, buddy."

\---

"Cwinty, come eat pancakes n' bacon!" Steve yelled, running in to wake up his big cousin.

Clint woke up, startled, and looked around the room for a few seconds before remembering he slept with Bruce. "'M sleepy."

"Too sleepy to come give Daddy a cuddle?" Phil teased, walking into the room behind Steve.

"Nope! Daddy's home! Daddy!" Clint quickly jumped up onto his knees and bounced with his arms in the air until he was picked up. "I missed you, Daddy!"

"I missed you too, bug. Have you been behaving?"

"Mhmm! I was the bestest behaved yesterday, Daddy! I didn't hit no one or-or have a tantrum for two-thousand-nine-hundred-eighty-seven and a half minutes! I was really good, Daddy."

"Who had a tantrum for two days straight?"

"Stevie. Because he couldn't perform his play he made yesterday in therapy. 'N-'n-and then Bruce hit me and Steve, then got a timeout and spanking."

"Oh.... Well, I'm glad you were behaved, Clint."

Clint smiled and hugged his daddy tightly.

"Breakfast?" Steve asked, tugging on Phil's sleeve.

"Yeah, buddy. Let's go eat."

"'M not hungry, Daddy," Clint mumbled, suddenly very quiet.

Phil frowned. Clint is always hungry. "Are you feeling alright, baby?" He touched his wrist to Clint's forehead and noted that it was a bit warm. "Do you feel sick?"

"No, Daddy." Clint pulled his head away from Daddy's wrist. "Just not hungry. I missed you; can we have lots of cuddles in bed?"

"Yeah. I missed you too, bug. Do you think you could drink some orange juice?"

"Yeah. I can do that, Daddy."

"Good. Steve, can you go ask Aunt Natasha to get some orange juice for Clint in a sippy cup, please?"

Steve nodded and waddled out, sucking on his pacifier.

Phil carried Clint into the bathroom and helped him change into a clean pull-up. Normally, he would've let Clint wear underpants, but he thinks Clint is sick and going to go back to sleep, so a pull-up would probably be best (especially since he's going to be laying down with him).

Clint didn't even protest the pull-up in the daytime while he's "a big boy," telling Phil that there's definitely something going on.

"Love you, Daddy," Clint mumbled into Phil's chest.

"I love you too, bug. Are you sure you're feeling okay?"

"Mhmm. Sleepy."

Phil frowned as he lifted Clint onto his hip and brought him to get Esther, his blanket, and his orange juice. "We're gonna go upstairs to my floor," he explained to everyone else. "Clint's not hungry, so we're going to cuddle instead."

"Cwinty gotta eat even if no hungwy," Steve insisted from his highchair. "I do. S'not fair Cwint don't gotta."

Clint looked up at his daddy, pouting. "Daddy, please no?" He whimpered.

Phil noticed that Clint looks a little green now. "No, baby, you don't have to eat right now. We can try something light later. You might be sick, bug; we'll have to keep an eye on you."

Clint whined as he brought his head back down onto Daddy's shoulder. He hates being sick!

\---

Clint woke up later in the day with a bad headache and a hurty throat and tummy. He whimpered and curled into a ball, hugging Esther and his Nemo blanket tightly. Where's Daddy? He was there when he fell asleep (which he wasn't expecting to do), but he's gone now....

Clint would have called for him or had JARVIS do it, but he can barely talk. He groaned and sat up, slipping out of bed and standing on wobbly legs. Just then, the door opened.

"Hey, bug," Phil smiled, sadly at his little boy before noticing him swaying. "Are you okay?"

Clint shook his head no and tried to take a step, but fell into his daddy's arms instead.

"Uh oh.... Looks like you're definitely sick, bug." Clint whimpered and shook his head no, but that made him dizzy, so he stopped.

"Daddy," Clint rasped.

"I know, baby. You don't feel good, huh?"

"Nuh-uh." Phil frowned and hugged Clint tightly. He knew Clint was sick. He guesses he couldn't have held this off forever; Clint hasn't been sick in over a year.

"What doesn't feel good? Point for me." Clint pointed at his head, throat, and tummy. "My poor baby." Phil squeezed him tightly and kissed his forehead.

"Daddy," Clint whimpered. "Feel icky."

"I know you do, bug." Phil saw Clint turn green. "Are you going to throw up?"

Clint nodded, so Phil quickly grabbed him and rushed him to the bathroom, setting him in front of the toilet right as Clint started throwing up. There wasn't much in his tummy since he didn't eat breakfast, so he ended up mostly dry heaving.

Phil gently rubbed Clint's back while he finished being sick.

"Do you want to have a bath, bug?"

"Yeah," Clint sniffled. He's sweaty and cold, but hot at the same time, and he missed the toilet the one time anything came up, so he's disgusting now.

"Okay. You stay there while I fill up the tub. Do you think you're done throwing up?"

"Mhmm." Clint rested his sweaty forehead on the cool porcelain of the toilet bowl and waited for the tub to fill up with lukewarm water. When it was full, Clint allowed himself to be manhandled out of his icky pajamas and into the bath, sighing at how good the water felt against his hot, icky skin. "Daddy, where's Sammy Shark?"

"Down in the nursery bathroom, bug," Phil whispered, carefully pouring cupfuls of water over Clint's skin. "Want me to ask Aunt Natasha to get your shark for you?"

"Mhmm, please. Footie jammies and books too, please?"

"Of course, baby." Phil figured Clint can't feel too sick if he wants to play with toys and read stories. That's good. He sent a quick text to Natasha and she brought the requested items within 5 minutes.

"The babies are sick too," Nat sighed. She has a bruise forming on her arm from where Bruce kicked her because she had to hold him while Tony got medicine for him. "I'm thinking Clint and Steve picked something up at therapy and passed it on to Bruce when they came home."

Clint had already been looking at his aunt, sadly, when he learned his cousins are sick, but now he began crying. "I made my baby sick?"

"It's not your fault he got sick, baby," Phil whispered, gently rubbing Clint's back with a soft, damp washcloth.

"It is! I sleeped with him when I was gettin' sick and-and maked Brucie sick too!"

"Shh, you'll make yourself throw up again, bug. It wasn't your fault. You didn't know. Steve made him sick just as much as you did."

"No 'e didn't!" Clint started crying harder. "Th' serum! 'S my fault!"

Phil stood and lifted Clint out of the tub and into his arms, rocking him and shushing him. Sometimes, talking to a crying Little is useless and you have to comfort them in other ways; Clint likes being rocked and getting cuddles.

Clint eventually calmed down and was mostly asleep as Phil carefully set him back in the tub and gently washed him with his special Little soaps on this floor. (Each floor has some soap for Littles, but the bathroom in the nursery has a very large stock of each the boys' favorites in the closet.)

"Daddy," Clint yawned.

"Yes, bug?"

"Downstairs? Wanna see my cousins."

"Okay, bug. Let's dry you off and get you dressed first. Do you want to wear a pull-up or a diaper?"

"Pull-up," Clint mumbled. He only wears a diaper if there's something bugging him after a mission or if he's _really_ sick. He's sick, but not so sick that he can't tell when he's gotta go potty. He feels like he might fall asleep again soon, though, and he almost always has accidents in his sleep. Almost 60% of Littles have nighttime accidents, so he doesn't feel _too_ bad about that.

Clint stood, shivering in his pull-up while he looked at his pajamas, trying to decide which one he wants to wear. He finally pointed at a pair of black space-themed footed pajamas covered in astronauts, rockets, earths, and stars.

Phil helped him into his pajamas, then picked him up and carried him downstairs while Natasha brought his books down. Clint was already wrapped in his blanket and had Esther tucked under an arm.

"Can we read and have cuddles before nap, Daddy?" Clint hummed.

"Sure, bug. You have to stay up until I can take your temperature and give you medicine, though."

Clint pouted, but didn't complain. As much as he hates having medicine and getting his temperature taken, he loves cuddling with Daddy and listening to books with him. And Daddy always gives him ice cream when he's better if he behaves while he's sick, which is easy to do, considering he just sleeps most of the time anyway.

In the nursery, there were two crying babies. One was struggling to get away from his daddy and the thermometer and the other was crying to be picked up by his daddy.

"Brucie," Clint whispered, reaching for his baby cousin.

Phil placed Clint on his feet and watched him amble over to him and hug him tightly.

"No!" Bruce sobbed, weakly attempting to push Clint away. "Wan' Da'ee!"

Clint frowned, hearing how hoarse Bruce's voice was and seeing how weak he was.... This is all his fault! He made his baby cousin sick!

"Daddy can't hold you right now," Tony sighed from the kitchen counter, "I'm getting you medicine so you can get better."

"No! Icky!"

"Brucie, I know medicine's icky–I hate it too–but you gotta have it. Daddy said I gotta have s'me too," Clint said.

"Pwease no?" Bruce sniffed, looking up at his cousin, sadly.

Clint didn't respond; he knows Bruce has to have medicine to get better. He hugged his baby cousin super tight and kissed his flaming hot forehead. "I'm sorry I made you sick, Brucie."

"T's okay," Bruce mumbled into Clint's chest. "Wuv you."

"I love you too, Brucie."

Clint cuddled with Bruce until Tony came back with two plastic syringes and a tiny plastic cup filled with medicine and some bottles and sippy cups of orange juice. All the kids whined upon seeing the medicine.

Clint took it upon himself to set a good example for his baby cousins, so he grabbed the little cup and shot back the icky medicine. He was quick to wash the taste out with his juice.

Steve squirmed around on Bucky's lap, keeping his mouth clamped shut.

"It's not that bad, Stevie," Clint insisted, quietly, due to his still-sore throat. "Just a little icky. It's not bad after you have juice. It will make you feel better, Steve. I promise."

Steve shook his head no, refusing to open his mouth.

Bucky sighed and stopped trying to force the syringe into Steve's mouth. Steve has always been very stubborn. Bucky grew out of his stubbornness (mostly), but even when he was at his most stubborn 'I-don't-want-anything-you-give-me-and-I'm-gonna-be-a-brat-about-it' stage of his life, he wasn't as stubborn as Steve. That being said, Bucky never wanted to have medicine when he was sick–which, luckily didn't happen often. When he _did_ need medicine, though, his mother would pinch his nose closed until he opened his mouth for air, then stick the medicine in his mouth, covering it until he swallowed. This usually ended in tears, but he would get cuddled afterwards and his sisters would give him whatever toys they had stolen from him back in an attempt to make him stop crying.

Maybe Bucky could do that with Steve.... Steve is capable of holding his breath for a very long time, but thoughts like that don't occur to him when he's little.

He decided to try it.

Bucky held Steve in place on his lap and brought his hand up to pinch his nose shut.

Steve soon began to panic, realizing that he couldn't breathe. This is like when the plane crashed: he couldn't breathe due to all the icy water in his lungs.

He opened his mouth to start hyperventilating, but instead had the syringe shoved into his mouth. Bucky quickly pushed down on the plunger, shooting the medicine down Steve's throat.

Steve got even more scared, beginning to shake. He was picturing himself back on the plane, cold and wet. The water in the plane was slowly rising and it kept getting in his mouth and eyes and ears and nose. The worst part–as if drowning in icy cold water wasn't bad enough–was that he's alone. Completely alone. Daddy fell out of the plane. He's so scared and cold and–

"Stevie, calm down, baby boy," Bucky pleaded. "It's okay. You're right here with Daddy and the rest of our family in the tower. It's okay, baby. Daddy's here."

Steve could hear his daddy's voice, but not the words he was saying. Still, just hearing Daddy's voice helped to calm him down somewhat–that means he's _not_ completely alone. Daddy's still here somewhere.

"I got Bear and Bunny," a familiar voice said after a long time of crying and hyperventilating. It took a minute to place it, but Steve finally recognized it as Clint. His big cousin. How did Clint get on the plane? _Why_ is he there?

Finally, everything came rushing back to him as the panic attack finally ended. Steve sniffled twice, looking around at his family's worried faces before he bursted into tears, pressing his face into Daddy's neck.

"Did I do somethin' wrong?" Clint rasped, worried as he backed up into his own daddy's chest. He feels bad about making his baby cousin cry, and also, it was really scary to watch him like that. He just wanted to give him a blanket because he was shaking lots, which usually means someone is cold, and also Bear and Bunny always help Steve when he's sad and he was crying a lot....

"No, bug, you didn't do anything wrong," Phil replied, quietly. He pulled Clint into his arms for a hug. "You're a sweet boy."

Clint hummed, squirming slightly to look back at Steve, who was finally starting to calm down thanks to his bottle and stuffed animals and Bucky rocking him.

It was at this point, Tony noticed that Bruce was no longer right next to him.

"Bruce?" He called, worried. He's not _too_ scared, because JARVIS knows not to let any Littles travel between floors alone, but he's still scared. There are still a lot of things on this floor that could hurt the baby.

Tony started to run around the play room, and then search each of the bedrooms, not finding his baby. When he got to the kitchen, thinking Bruce might just be looking for a snack (probably not though, considering he threw up earlier), he saw all of the pots and pans out on the floor and saw one of the cabinet drawers cracked open. His racing heart finally calmed down.

Tony crouched next to the cabinets and gently knocked on one.

"Bruce? You in there?" He asked, softly.

"No," came the barely audible reply.

"No? Well, that's sad. I was really hoping to give my baby boy a big hug and a kiss, but I guess since I can't find him–"

"I here, Dada. No want out. Scared."

"What are you scared of, baby?"

"Steeb.... Meh'cine make him wike that?"

"No, honey. Steve had a panic attack. It was really scary, especially for him, but it wasn't caused by the medicine. I think Uncle Bucky probably didn't give him the medicine in a good way, is all."

Bruce hummed. "Steeb otay?"

"Steve is okay now. I think he's either napping or getting ready for a nap. Are you ready to come out now?"

"Mhmm."

Bruce pushed the cabinet open and crawled out and into Tony's arms.  Tony hugged his baby tightly, kissing the side of his head. "Let's go have some medicine and go take a nap, baby."

"Kay, Dada." Bruce rested his head against Tony's chest, sleepily. He knows he just woke up not that long ago, but he's still really tired. He doesn't like being sick; he's always tired and he feels gross all the time.

Tony carried Bruce back to the play room where Steve was slowly falling asleep and Clint was pouting around the thermometer in his mouth.

Tony sat next to Clint and grabbed the syringe full of medicine. "Open, Brucie."

Bruce sniffed as he opened his mouth and let his daddy put the tip of the syringe in his mouth. Tony pushed down on the plunger and waited until Bruce swallowed to take it out and leave him on the couch while he went to wash the syringes and cup and put them away.

"How are you feeling, Bruce?" Phil asked. He heard the thermometer beep and pulled it out of Clint's mouth, waiting for Bruce to answer.

Clint pulled the baby into his arms, hugging him gently. "Sweepy, Unca Phiw," Bruce mumbled into Clint's chest. Clint started rubbing Bruce's back and had the baby asleep by the time Tony returned.

Tony smiled sadly. He's sad that the kids all feel so bad. "I'm going to go put him down in his crib for now."

Clint nodded and kissed Bruce's forehead before allowing his uncle to pick the baby up and take him away.

"Daddy, c'n we go read stories and take a nap?" Clint whispered, not wanting to wake his cousins.

"Sure, bug. Want some more juice before we go?"

Clint shook his head. "Water please, Daddy."

"Alright. Go get in bed and I'll be there in a minute."

Clint hummed and ambled into his room, stopping to hug his aunt and uncle and kiss Steve's cheek first. He finally got there and picked out all of his favorite books while he waited for Daddy.

Phil entered the room after a few minutes and handed the sippy cup he was holding to his little boy. "Do you want to lay in bed or sit in the rocking chair, bug?" He whispered, gently rubbing Clint's back.

"Chair, Daddy. I picked some books to read."

Phil sat in the rocking chair and looked at the little table next to it where there were at least 15 children's books stacked on it. He doesn't think Clint will last through three books, let alone 15. "Are we reading all those, baby?" Phil wrapped his arms around Clint's waist when he sat on his lap.

"Mhmm," Clint responded around his cup. Phil brought the three books Clint will last through down to one and a quarter; the poor boy already looks like he's falling asleep.

"Okay, bug. Which one do you wanna start with first?"

"Th't one." Clint pointed at the one on top: _Love You Forever_.

"Alright. Got your blanket and Esther?" Clint hummed and hugged them both to show that he has them. "Okay." Phil rocked slowly as he began: " **A mother held her new baby and very slowly rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while she held him, she sang: I'll love you forever,**  
 **I'll like you for always,**  
 **As long as I'm living**  
 **my baby you'll be....** "

By the end of the book, Clint was fast asleep.

\---

The next few days contained many tears from sick, miserable Littles and a lot of cuddles to make the tears go away.

When they weren't any better on the fourth day, the adults (well, mainly Tony) in the tower grew worried.

"Should we call a doctor? I don't know what to do. What if they don't get better?" Tony panicked, pacing around after they finally got the kids to sleep.

Bucky remembered that Tony has never dealt with a sick Little before, so this is probably confusing and scary to him, whereas Steve was sick all the time before the serum and Clint has been Phil's Little for over 10 years and has surely been sick before now. He and Phil are both accustomed to taking care of sick Littles; Tony isn't.

"They should be fine," Bucky promised. "Sickness sometimes lasts longer in Littles than in someone who's Neutral or a Caregiver. Unless someone gets a fever, we don't have to worry too much."

"He's right, Tony," Phil agreed. "They'll be fine."

Tony sighed and plopped down on the couch. "Hey, Bucky? Why is Steve sick? The serum should prevent that, right?"

Bucky scoffed. "I wish. No. Being Little is biological, but is also to do with the mental state.... The serum could change Steve's appearance, but not who he is. He's still the same stupid kid he's always been, just bigger. Because the serum didn't change his brain or mentality at all, it didn't affect him being Little at all, so he's a normal Little in every way. His body still somewhat looks how it used to, and he's the same age he's always been and everything. But it's easier for Littles to get sick, so Steve can still get sick, just maybe not _as_ badly."

Tony hummed. "Well, I guess it's good that the serum didn't change him being Little."

"Yeah, it is. I love having him as my Little." The adults all smiled as they thought about their Littles and how much they love them.

Tony gasped and started to panic again when Bruce woke up, crying.

Tony ran to his baby and picked him up, hugging him tightly and rocking him. "What's the matter, baby? Hmm?"

"Diaper," Bruce sniffed. Tony nodded and placed Bruce on the changing table to start changing him. "Hungwy, Dada."

Tony was surprised, but happy. Bruce and his cousins haven't wanted to eat throughout their entire time being sick, having been afraid they would throw up. "Okay, baby. What do you want to eat?"

"Food."

"How about some toast for now?"

"Yeah. Juice?"

"Of course, baby boy." Tony carried Bruce out to the kitchen and put some bread in the toaster. "How are you feeling, Brucie?"

"Hungwy."

"I know. We're waiting for your toast. Do you feel any better, though?"

"Little," Bruce shrugged.

"Good." Tony nuzzled his face into Bruce's hair. "Your hair's getting long, baby. I'll see if I can get Pepper to come give you a haircut soon."

" _Noo_ ," Bruce whined. He's never even met Pepper before! Does she even know that he's Tony's Little now?

"Yes, baby. Your hair is getting too long and soon it will be too hard to take care of. Pepper does a good job. She used to cut my hair all the time." Tony didn't mention that that's because he didn't trust anybody else and he was afraid of people being near his head, especially after Afghanistan....

Bruce huffed and lightly pulled on his hair. "Mine."

"I know, baby. We can talk about it another day. Let's have some toast now." Bruce hummed and looked toward the doorway as Phil and Bucky walked in with their Littles on their hips.

"I think our little guys are finally starting to feel better," Bucky observed, placing Steve down in his highchair.

"We still feel icky, though, Uncle Bucky," Clint pouted. He mostly has his voice back now.

"I know. You should be better soon," Phil promised.

Clint sighed and rested his head against his daddy's chest.

"What do you want to eat, bug?"

"Pizza."

Phil shook his head, fondly. "No, baby; pizza will make your tummy upset again. How about you have some toast with your cousins?"

Clint pouted, but nodded.

"I'll make some chicken noodle soup for dinner tonight," Bucky said.

"Dada make good soup," Steve hummed. He had put his arms down on the tray of his highchair like a pillow and rested his head on top of his arms, but he sat up when Tony put a plate of toast in front of him. "Thank you, Unca Tony."

"You're welcome, kiddo." Tony ruffled Steve's hair before sitting in a chair with Bruce on his lap.

\---

"Movie?" Bruce asked when he woke up later in the day. He's feeling better now that he ate something and actually slept pretty good. He feels like he could sit through a movie now. Maybe even _two_ movies!

"Yeah! Can we watch movies, Daddy?" Clint asked, hopefully.

"Well, I bet Steve would like to watch with us, so why don't we wait for him to be done in the bath?" Phil suggested.

"Okay, Daddy. We'll wait for Stevie."

"Book?" Bruce asked instead.

"Sure, baby. Go pick a book and I'll read to you," Tony said.

"No. Cwinty read."

Phil and Natasha exchanged glances. The only time Bruce or Steve asked Clint to read them something was when they asked to be read movie titles or what a movie is about, which Clint has memorized and he knows every movie by the case. Clint can read, of course, but it's hard for him to do so.

"O-okay," Clint said. "Wanna pick one of my books?" Clint has all of his own books memorized, so he could read one of those to his baby cousin.

"No. mine!" Bruce crawled to his room, being followed by Clint.

Clint frowned. He knows he and Bruce have some of the same books, but only a few. His eyes widened when he saw Bruce pick out _"If I Ran The Zoo"_ by Dr. Seuss.

"Can we read something else?" Clint asked, frowning. Dr. Seuss hurts his head. Well, reading any book in general by himself hurts his eyes and head, but Dr. Seuss especially does.

"No. Read me." Bruce sat on Clint's lap and opened the book, waiting calmly for his cousin to begin the book.

"O-okay.... ' **It's a pr-perrty good zoo,' said...said the boy. 'Yes it is!' Agreed the zoo keeper. 'We have lions and tigers! They're all super nice and friendly! They're so nice and friendly that we can let 'em outta the cages. They don't bite no one or nothing—** "

"Cwinty," Bruce stopped his cousin. "That's not tha words."

Clint blushed deeply. Natasha chose now to walk in and crouch in front of her nephews.

"Cwint not know how to read?" Bruce asked.

"I know how to read!" Clint exclaimed, blushing. Natasha gently rubbed Clint's side to calm him.

"Clint knows how to read, but it's hard for him. The words and letters get mixed up for him and it's confusing," Natasha explained.

"Yeah," Clint whispered. "It's really hard. I'm sorry, Brucie. I wanna read to you, but I didn't memorize this book. Only memorized my own."

"It's otay, Cwinty," Bruce promised. "Cuddles instead? Aunt Tasha read?"

"I would love to read to you two," Natasha smiled. She sat next to them with her legs crossed and took the book from Bruce.

Steve ended up joining them halfway through the book. When they finished reading, Bruce asked to watch a movie again.

"Watch Lilo and Stitch?" Bruce asked. "Pwease?"

"Sure, buddy." Bruce stood off of his cousin's lap and helped to pull everyone up off the floor. Bruce waddled back out to the play room and pulled the movie out, handing it to Bucky to put on.

"Let's have some medicine before we watch the movie," Phil said, already holding the two syringes and little cup.

The boys pouted, but took their medicine obediently. After the incident where Steve had a panic attack, he decided to just behave and take his medicine; even though Bucky promised to never give him medicine like that again, he's still scared and a little nervous about having medicine, especially using the syringe. However, when Steve tried to use the cup like Clint, he spilled medicine all over himself.

"Stitch!" Steve exclaimed when Bucky put the disc in. He quickly stood up, running to his room and grabbing his stuffed Stitch toy. He came back and Clint was hugging his stuffed Scrump while Bruce had his Leroy.

\---

Two days later, Clint woke up, feeling all better. He smiled as he jumped out of bed. He ran to the kitchen to see (big) Steve and Bucky making breakfast.

"Ooh, is that bacon?!" He asked, energetically.

"Of course it is!" Steve exclaimed. "It's just not right to have breakfast without bacon! It's been almost a full week without it! That should be illegal!"

Clint giggled. "You really love bacon, Stevie, don't ya?"

"Yup! Did you go potty this morning, Clinty?"

"No.... I'll go now. But first...where's Daddy?"

"Daddy and Aunt Natasha went to S.H.I.E.L.D.," Bucky answered. "They should be back in a few minutes."

"Okay. I'm gonna go potty now." Clint skipped into the bathroom. He's so happy that he's all better now!

When he had finished in the bathroom, he heard something rustling from in Bruce's room and heard a loud thump. He ran in and saw that Bruce had climbed out of his crib and had fallen on his butt.

"Are you okay, Brucie?" Clint worried, kneeling next to him.

"I'm okay," Bruce replied, clearly big. "Help me up?"

Clint nodded and stood back up, grabbing his baby cousin's hands. He helped him up and hugged him tightly.

"Thanks, Clint." Bruce hugged back. "I smell bacon.... I take it Steve is better now?"

"Mhmm! And so am I! I bet you are too, Brucie!"

"I certainly feel all better. We should probably take it easy for a while before we go running around, though."

Clint huffed and pouted. "You're boring. I wanna go to the park!"

"Our immune systems are still weak, Clint. I don't know about you, but I don't want to get sick again. And it's not nice to call people boring."

Clint frowned. "I'm sorry, Bruce. You're not boring. I don't wanna get sick again either. Maybe we can go to the park again after therapy Thursday."

"Maybe. Come on, let's go eat breakfast."

Clint hummed as he grabbed his cousin's hand and led him to the kitchen.

"Good morning, Uncle Tony!" Clint smiled. He let go of Bruce's hand to let him go give him a hug. Even when Bruce is big, he's really close to Tony and loves being around him.

Bruce gave Tony a quick hug.

"Hmm? Oh. Morning, Clint. Morning, Brucie-poo," Tony rasped.

"Tony? Are you sick?" Bruce frowned.

"What? No. I-of course not."

"You are," Bruce frowned. "Come on, let's get you back to bed. You shouldn't have coffee when you're sick."

"Bruce, I'm fine," Tony tired to say, but was interrupted by a sneeze attack.

"Tony, you took really good care of me while I sick. You always take good care of me, and I really appreciate it; just let me take care of you while you're sick. Please?"

"Fine," Tony sighed. "Don't complain to me that you're not that type of doctor anymore, though. You obviously know enough to take care of someone when they have at least a cold."

"Mostly it's just common sense," Bruce shrugged, pulling his Caregiver to his bedroom and forcing him to lay down.

"Yeah, yeah. You could probably do a lot more if you wanted to."

Bruce shrugged. "I'll be right back with medicine. Want some toast?"

"I don't think so," Tony groaned. Just the mention of food made him turn green. He's surprised he didn't vomit in the kitchen, being surrounded by all the pancakes, bacon, and eggs.

"Okay. I'll be back in a second." Bruce hurried out of the room, going to Bucky to have him open the medicine cabinet.

All medicine cabinets in the tower are locked and only the adults know the password to open them. Bruce and his cousins can't even know it when they're big incase they happen to remember it while little and get into something they shouldn't. Not that anyone thinks they would, considering they all hate medicine, but you never know.

Bruce finally returned to Tony with some pills and a glass of water to see him asleep. He smiled as he placed the medication on the night table. He placed a garbage can next to him just incase Tony has to throw up, then pulled the blanket up to his neck and kissed his forehead. Bruce knows Tony always goes to work down in his lab after he goes to sleep, which really isn't good. He's up for 14 or more hours a day, taking care of three Littles, then works for at least another 4-6 hours. Maybe being sick will allow him to take a break from working and just rest....

"Get your rest, Tony," Bruce whispered. "You need it." He tiptoed out of the room to see Clint cuddled up on Phil's lap. He smiled slightly. Surprisingly, he loves being Little, but for now, he'll try to force himself to stay big until Tony is better.


	17. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: none(?)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY. I'm updating this in school right now so shhh...  
> I actually don't have much to say this time besides: for Clint and Steve's plays.... Clint's play I came up with entirely on my own and I actually like his and I think it's cute. STEVE'S on the other hand! His play was based off a dream I had (idk why Prince Bear and Penguin exist in my subconscious but whatever) but the dream was a lot darker (Prince Bear was dead in it..), so I decided to change it a bit and I hate his play, but I couldn't think of anything else so ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯   
> Also I'm kind of obsessed with Hamilton now please save me (we're learning about him in history and I really love the soundtrack but I haven't nor will I ever see the play :-P ... >)  
> ....Kay enjoy

"I getta do my play today!" Steve sang, skipping around the nursery.

"Me too!" Clint yelled.

"Brucie come watch?" Steve stopped skipping to kneel in front of his baby cousin and place his hands on his knees.

"I would, but I have to stay here with Tony," Bruce explained. "He's still sick. I don't trust him to stay in bed while we're gone." He knows Tony tends to work until he completely breaks down.... That only stopped when he became his Little.

"Oh," Steve frowned, disappointedly.

"I'm sure Uncle Bucky or Phil will record it, though, and we can watch it later. I know Daddy wants to see your play too, but he can't go out right now."

"Okay, Brucie." Steve kissed his cousin's cheek before crawling to his daddy to make sure he's going to record his and Clint's plays.

"Hey, Bruce," Phil whispered. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay. I'm not sick anymore," Bruce shrugged.

"I know you're not, but I also know you haven't been big for longer than 13 hours a day every once in a while in a long time and it's been nearly 40 hours.... And it seems like you're fighting to stay big now."

"I'm okay. I gotta stay big to take care of Dad-erm-Tony."

"I can stay with him if you want to go with your cousins to see their plays. I know Bucky's going to record it, but it's different seeing it in person.... Or I could stay here with you and keep you company. You could even be Little!"

"No, it's okay. I'll be fine alone. It should be me who takes care of Tony. And it's like you said: it's different seeing my cousins' plays in person; Clinty would be upset if his daddy wasn't there to watch him in person. Thank you, though, Uncle Phil."

Phil smiled sadly and rubbed Bruce's arm. "Okay then. If you're sure.... Let me know if you need anything while we're out."

"Alright. Thank you. You should go now. Steve and Clint look impatient."

Phil hummed, looking back at the boys. "I'll see you later, Bruce. Text or call me if you need anything."

Bruce nodded and cuddled into his chair as he watched his family leave. He sighed and looked around at all the toys on the floor, deciding to clean them up.

\---

At therapy, everybody's groups got together and practiced for 15 minutes before the first group went up. Steve sat on Bucky's lap as he watched the first group preform, nervously. Their play is really good.... He wonders if his own group's is that good....

Steve looked to his left to see Joshua sitting with Tori. Steve tapped on Joshua's shoulder and whispered, "our pway good?"

Joshua turned to see Steve, smiling at him. "Hi, Steve. Our play is super good! Don't worry!"

Steve hummed and stuck his pacifier in his mouth, reaching for his friend's hand. Joshua held Steve's hand while they watched the next plays.

Between each play was a short intermission while the next group went to get changed into their costumes and get any props they needed set up.

During the intermission before Clint's play, Tori moved next to Bucky and had Joshua sitting on her lap. "Hey, Steve," she greeted, smiling. "I'm glad you decided to come to these meetings. How are you doing?"

"Good," Steve answered from around his pacifier. "Nervous.... Excited for Cwinty and my pway, though!"

"Good," Tori smiled. She started talking to Bucky and Natasha while Steve and Joshua quietly practiced their lines.

Finally, Clint was up on the stage (wearing a suit of armor and holding a toy bow and arrow) and Steve started to clap for his big cousin, excitedly.

Clint smiled down at his cousin and waved before the lights dimmed, signaling the start of the play.

 _"Oh, Jonathan! Please don't go! What will our kids and puppies think if you don't come home?!" Cried a little boy, holding onto Clint's arm with one hand while the other hand held a baby doll._  
 _"Tyler, I gotta go," Clint replied. "I have to help defeat the dragon so our kids and puppies and you can live safely and happily. I promise I'll be okay; I'll come home to you."_  
 _Clint kissed the boy's forehead and pet all the stuffed dogs before galloping away with the rest of the soldiers._  
 _"We reached rocket ship!" A little girl exclaimed, pulling a huge cardboard rocket ship out to the center of the stage._  
 _"Does everybody have their weapons?" Clint asked, getting behind the ship to push it._  
 _"Yes, sir!"_  
 _Everybody got it the ship and Clint began pushing it off the stage, making space ship noises._  
Sam pulled a curtain down, made to look like the moon.  
 _Clint pushed the rocket back onto the stage and everybody gasped._  
 _"I've never been on the moon before!" The little girl from before exclaimed._  
 _"Well, Nancy, the moon doesn't got air, so you gotta wear a helmet!" Another little girl exclaimed, putting her astronaut helmet on._  
 _Everyone put their helmets on and got out of the rocket, taking exaggerated large, bouncy steps._  
 _"The dragon's lair is over there," Clint explained, pointing to a large, styrofoam rock. "The dragon will be sleeping now, so we just gotta go sneak in and kill it!"_  
 _"Why do we have to kill it?" One of the girls frowned. "I'm sure if we just talked to the dragon, it would leave earth alone."_  
 _"No, Izzy. Maybe an earth dragon would understand," Clint started, shaking his head, "but this isn't any dragon we're usedta. This is a_ moon dragon _! Not much's knowed about them, but we do know that they're super mean and their favorite food is humans.... We gotta kill it, but be very careful and quiet...."_  
 _Everyone nodded and tiptoed to the rock. The rock was pushed away and the curtain was changed again to look more like the inside of a cave._  
 _"We gotta be super careful and quiet–" Nancy started, but was cut off by a boy stepping on a stick and cracking it. Their eyes all widened as they looked at the boy._  
 _"Oops.... Sorry," the boy whispered._  
 _"Zach, this is why we gotta watch the floor when we bein' stealthy!" Clint whisper-shouted. "I've telled you a trillion and a half times!"_  
 _Their eyes widened again at hearing the moon dragon roar loudly._  
 _The boy from earlier who was Clint's husband came out wearing a dragon costume with Martian antennas on the top._  
 _Clint and the rest of his group gasped. "Kill the dragon!" Clint yelled, grabbing his bow. He shot foam arrows at the dragon, making him roar and jump around the stage, attacking everyone._  
 _Eventually, the only one left standing was Izzy, the girl who wanted to compromise with the dragon. Everyone else was laying on the floor, 'passed out.'_  
 _"M-Mr. Moon Dragon, please, I don't wanna hurt you! Let's just sit down and talk!"_  
 _The dragon growled in a raspy voice, "if you just wanna talk, then why did you and your friends bring weapons?"_  
 _"I-I didn't want to, I swear! It's just–humans don't know much about Moon Dragons; all we know's they're supposedly real mean and like eatin' humans...."_  
 _"_ Eat humans?! _That's disgusting! I have never eaten a human before! I am the first Moon Dragon in 30 years to go to Earth, and that was just to make friends! My father was bad an' he usedta eat you humans, but no one else never did!"_  
 _"Huh?" Izzy put her sword down, confused. "But you breathed fire on our forests and villages...."_  
 _"Yes, and I apologize for that. The asmophere's different here and there, so what is ice here is fire on your earth. I did not mean to set anything on fire...."_  
 _"So did you mean to make everything icy?"_  
 _"No. When I get excited, it just happens. I was excited to possibly make human friends, but a bunch of them shot at me!"_  
 _Izzy frowned. "I'll be your friend. But you can't get so excited when you come to Earth no more. And next time you come to Earth, you gotta explain that you want friends and you're nice."_  
 _"Deal! Now how about I take you and your friends back to Earth?"_  
 _Izzy nodded, excitedly and she and the dragon helped everyone into a new cardboard box that looked like a dragon back. Izzy climbed in too and the dragon pushed them off the stage while Sam changed the curtain again._  
 _Clint and the others 'woke up' when they were 'back on Earth.'_  
 _Clint gasped. "Izzy! The dragon! Everyone, kill it!" Clint drew his bow, but Izzy smacked it out of his hands._  
 _"No!" She yelled at him. "Jonathan, it's okay! He's a nice dragon! He just wants friends and he got excited and accidentally set things on fire! It's okay!"_  
 _Clint glared at the dragon for a second, but then nodded. "Okay. We'll all be your friends. Just no more fire and no scaring people on earth."_  
 _"Okay! That sounds great!" The dragon smiled and roared excitedly while everyone else giggled._

"The end!" The kids all exclaimed, still giggling.

Everybody in the room clapped and the kids bowed. The kids ran off the stage to their Caregivers. Clint hugged Phil tightly before reaching over to squeeze Steve and kiss his cheek.

"It's our turn now, Steve!" Joshua exclaimed. Steve hummed and nodded. Bucky carried Steve and the duffle bag with his costume and a clean diaper and wipes in it to the bathroom and got him changed into a clean diaper and then into his bear costume.

"Dada, nervous," Steve whispered. "Cwinty was great.... Everyone was. Don't know if my pway's that good..."

"I'm sure your play is amazing, baby boy," Bucky said. He hugged Steve tightly and kissed his nose. "Don't be nervous. You'll do great."

"Kay, Dada." Steve cuddled his daddy while he was being carried out to the stage.

"Ready, Steve?" Joshua asked in his own bear costume.

Steve nodded and waved to Bucky as he went to sit back in the audience.

 _Steve (a bear) and Danny (a penguin) walked onto the stage._  
 _"Hello, Pwince Penguin!" Steve smiled._  
 _"Pwince Bear," Danny hummed, waving._  
 _"Daddy Bear and Mommy Penguin're talkin' 'bout borin' adult stuffs, so say us should pway your room."_  
 _Danny hummed and crawled blindly to the toy chest. He pulled out a few action figures and gave some to Steve. They were about to sit down when there was a growling noise from the side of the stage and Alisha jumped out, wearing a cougar costume._  
 _Prince Bear and Prince Penguin both gasped. Steve stumbled backwards and fell on his butt hard._  
 _Alisha slowly walked forward before pouncing on Steve and tickling him. Steve had to bite his tongue to keep from giggling when he's supposed to be screaming and thrashing around._  
 _"Pwince Bear!" Danny yelled. He grabbed a toy sword and jumped on Alisha, attacking her with the sword. Alisha growled and gently pushed the baby off of her. Danny raised his hands to his eyes, fake crying. Daddy Bear and Mommy Penguin ran on stage as Alisha ran off._  
 _Maddy and Joshua gasped._  
 _"Your child did this!" Maddy accused, pulling Danny into her arms._  
 _"Daddy Bear, no," Steve pouted. "Not me! Cougar!"_  
 _Maddy huffed. "You two should go."_  
 _Joshua frowned as he pulled Steve up onto his hip. "I'm sorry this happened, but I'm sure we could figure something out–"_  
 _"Leave before the penguins decide to declare war on you."_  
 _Joshua carried Steve off the stage._  
"I doin' good?" Steve whispered to Joshua. His friend nodded, making Steve smile widely.   
_"Prince Penguin, what happened?" Maddy asked._  
 _"C-cougar," Danny sniffled._  
 _"Honey, you don't have to lie...."_  
 _"Not lyin'...."_  
 _Maddy frowned. "It's okay, Prince Penguin. We'll figure this out...."_  
 _Maddy carried Danny off the stage and then Alisha walked across the stage with a big sign that said, '14 Years Later' while Sam pulled down a curtain painted to look like a battlefield._  
 _Steve and Joshua were back on the stage, panting._  
 _"Daddy Bear," Steve panted. "This's hard. Us need hewp for defeat jaguars. Maybe us should ask Penguins–"_  
 _"No," Joshua interrupted. "The penguins hate us bears. We barely escaped war with 'em 14 years ago."_  
 _"Why us was gonna fight?"_  
 _Joshua gulped. "You...Prince Penguin's almost completely blind because you two were playin' and something happened.... Neither of you would ever tell us what happened. Both of you just insisted it was a cougar, but cougars haven't been to Penguin kingdom in 23 years."_  
 _Steve frowned. "Maybe it was–"_  
 _"Don't start again, Prince Bear. I don't know what happened, but it was_ not _a cougar. I know that for a fact."_  
 _"I still think us should ask penguins," Steve mumbled._  
The scene changed again, this time with the bears and penguins.   
_"Why are we here?" Maddy demanded._  
 _"We need the penguins' help," Joshua explained. "As you know, we've been at war with the jaguars for the last two years. Penguins are smaller and can get in their dens and are good fighters. Please...."_  
 _Maddy looked over at Danny, then back at Joshua. "No. Prince Penguin can barely see without his glasses because of your offspring. Just be happy we haven't declared war on you yet."_  
 _Joshua sighed and stood up, turning to walk off the stage._  
 _"Cougar!" Steve yelled._  
 _"Don't start with that again, Prince Bear!" Joshua sighed._  
 _"No! Cougar! There!" Steve pointed at Alisha, slowly walking onto the stage._  
 _Daddy Bear and Mommy Penguin exchanged a glance before getting into a fighting stance and looking at the cougar._  
 _"I-I wanted to apologize to Prince Penguin," Alisha stammered. "It's my fault he lost his eyesight. I was hungry; I saw a bear I wanted to eat.... Prince Penguin tried to save the bear...."_  
 _"Told you so," Steve mumbled. Joshua shushed Steve._  
 _"14 years is a bit too late to apologize for almost blinding someone, isn't it?" Maddy huffed._  
 _"I-yes, it is. I needed food that day.... My siblings and I were starving. We almost all died.... I was very sick after that. I just got well enough to travel back here and apologize."_  
 _Maddy crossed her arms and was about to say something, but was interrupted by jaguars growling. The five of them all looked at each other before deciding to work together to battle the jaguars for now._  
The kids walked off the stage while Sam walked across it with a sign saying, 'Two Months Later.' The 5 Littles were back on stage, all panting.   
_"Us win jaguars?" Danny asked._  
 _"Yes, Prince Penguin," Maddy answered. "We winned. We all signed the peace treaty a few minutes ago." Maddy looked at Joshua. "I'm...sorry that I didn't listen to Prince Bear about the cougar."_  
 _"I'm sorry too," Joshua agreed. The two of them turned to Alisha._  
 _"If the cougars are ever in need of food or supplies," Maddy began, "you may send a letter to the penguins or bears for assistance, but no cougar is to ever travel to either of our kingdoms again. If one does, we will instantly declare war."_  
 _"Understood," Alisha whispered._  
 _Alisha was going to walk off the stage when Danny stopped her, handing over the toy swords he attacked her with in the beginning of the play._  
 _"No eat my Pwince Bear," he told her before going to Steve and hugging him._  
 _"I will not and nobody ever will," Alisha promised before exiting the stage._

The kids looked out at the audience then and said 'The End' as Alisha walked back onto the stage. The audience all clapped and 'awwed' as the kids on stage bowed. After a minute, they all ran off the stage to their Caregivers.

"You did great, Stevie," Bucky smiled. "See, you had nothing to worry about." Steve hummed and rested his head against Daddy's chest.

"Good job, Stevie! That was really awesome!" Clint smiled, hugging his baby cousin.

"It looks like there are some little actors here," Sam said from up on the stage. "Thank you, everyone, for joining us today. We hope we can do many more things like this!"

"Home, Dada?" Steve yawned. "Miss Brucie and Uncle Tony."

"We're going to go get some lunch first and then we'll go home," Bucky promised, standing up with Steve on his hip. Phil stood, holding Clint's hand and Natasha followed them all out, carrying the bags.

Steve and Clint didn't want to change out of their costumes, so they wore them in the car and out at lunch. They normally wouldn't have been allowed to, but Natasha convinced Phil and Bucky to let them wear them this one time.

\---

"Bwucie, we home!" Steve called, running off the elevator. He stopped in the middle of the room, seeing Bruce drinking a bottle on a woman's lap.

"Who you?" Steve asked, backing up into Bucky's chest.

"I'm Pepper," the woman answered. "I work with Tony. I came to get him to sign a few things and let him know about a meeting next week. Bruce was little when I got here, so I decided to stay and take care of him."

Clint noticed the dried tear tracks on Bruce's face and knelt in front of him, gently rubbing the baby's cheek. "Is my baby okay?" He frowned.

Bruce blinked at his cousin and continued drinking his bottle. Eventually he hummed and nodded the tiniest bit.

"Unca Tony otay?" Steve wondered.

"Tony's okay," Pepper confirmed, taking the bottle out of Bruce's mouth and sitting him up to burp him. "He's still sick, but not any worse than he was this morning–at least according to JARVIS."

"Wan' Daddy," Bruce whispered after he had burped and was being settled back into Pepper's arms.

"I know," she whispered, stroking his hair. "Daddy is still sick and he needs his rest."

"Let baby bwing his medicine," Steve commanded.

"Alright. Bruce, do you want to help me bring Daddy his medicine?"

Bruce nodded and slipped off of Pepper's lap, crawling to the kitchen in just a diaper and Mickey Mouse shirt. Bruce has gotten better about being naked or at least partially naked around his family. They're all surprised he let Pepper get him changed, though, because he certainly wasn't wearing a diaper when they all left and he can't put one on by himself.

"I love you, Aunt Tasha," Clint whispered, hugging his aunt tightly. Natasha looked between her nephew and Phil, confused, but hugged back anyway. She wasn't expecting a random declaration of love from the little boy, but she's not exactly complaining.

"I love you too, Clint. Are you feeling okay?"

"Mhmm. Just love you a lot."

Natasha smiled as she squeezed the boy in her arms.

The five of them sat quietly until Pepper came out of Tony's room–empty handed–after a few minutes.

"Bruce didn't want to leave," she explained. "I figured he could stay for a while. I have to get going back to work now; will you please have Tony sign and send in the papers I left on his dresser? And let him know he has a meeting that he _has_ to attend next week on the 13th?"

"Of course we will," Bucky answered. "Thank you for taking care of Bruce. We were worried about him, but I feel better knowing he wasn't alone with a practically comatose lump all day."

Pepper chuckled at that. She has never heard a better description of a sick Tony Stark in all the years she's known the man. "It was no problem," she assured. "Bruce was a sweet boy. I'm glad he and Tony have this relationship. It seems to be good for both of them."

"It is," Phil confirmed. "Maybe you could come over for dinner one day soon and get better acquainted with the kids."

"I would love that," Pepper smiled, looking between Steve and Clint. Steve scooted closer to Bucky, if that was possible. He's not overly fond of strangers. But if Brucie seemed comfortable around her, surely she can't be too bad.

"Alright. We'll be in touch, Pepper."

Pepper nodded and walked to the elevator, smiling and waving.

"Daddy, she's named after food?" Clint whispered when the elevator door closed.

"No, Clint," Phil answered. "That's a nickname."

"Oh.... Can we watch movies?"

"Sure, bug. You and Steve go pick one each. I'm going to go check on Bruce and Tony."

Clint nodded, eagerly, and grabbed his cousin's hand before dragging him to the movies. Phil slipped into Tony's room to see Tony half asleep, mumbling nonsense with a baby on his stomach. Tony's fingers were tangled in Bruce's hair, massaging his scalp.

"Hey," Phil whispered, catching their attention. "How are you feeling, Tony?"

"Better now'th't 've got my baby," Tony responded, kissing Bruce's curls. Bruce hummed, snuggling closer to Tony.

"That's good. Feeling well enough to come watch movies with us all?" Tony shrugged, looking at Bruce to day it's up to him. "Bruce, do you want to come watch movies or do you wanna stay and cuddle with Daddy?"

"Daddy come?" Bruce checked, peeking up at his uncle.

"Daddy will come if you want," Tony said. Bruce nodded, slowly sitting up on his daddy's lap. Tony followed, even slower.

"Did you take your medicine?" Phil asked, lifting Bruce off of Tony and subtly checking his diaper (wet).

"Of course I did. I'm not gonna fight Bruce on it. I'm definitely not going to fight Pepper on it.... Why did Pepper come? Is she still here?"

"She left a few minutes ago. She left those papers for you to sign and she said you have a meeting to go to next week. It's nonnegotiable, by the way."

Tony huffed as he got out of bed and slid his shark slippers on. He reached for his baby, but Phil shook his head no.

"I'll go change him. You just go tell the kids to wait for Bruce before they start watching movies." Phil carried Bruce away, feeling Tony glaring daggers into his back. "Do you want to play with my phone while I change you, buddy?"

"Yah!" Bruce smiled and made grabby hands towards Phil's phone. None of the kids are allowed to play with anyone's phones very often, so they get excited when they are allowed to. Phil handed over his phone, already opened on the page all of Bruce's games are on.

Bruce's diaper change was full of giggling and happy sounds for once instead of whining and escape attempts.

"Message," Bruce announced toward the end of the change. "Pepper."

"Okay. Can I see my phone, please, Bruce?" Bruce hummed and handed the phone back. He quickly rolled over and slid off the changing table, running out to the play room before Phil could put any pants on him. Phil just sighed before looking at his phone to see a text from Pepper: **If Tony doesn't want to eat, smoothies are your best friend.**

Phil typed a quick 'thank you' reply. The last few days Bruce had been force feeding him soup and toast, which...hasn't been good. Bruce insisted Tony should eat something, though.

"Daddy, the baby keeps tryin' ta take my costume off!" Clint whined, pushing Bruce away.

"No wike!" Bruce explained, grabbing for Clint's helmet again.

"Bruce, leave your cousin alone," Tony sighed. Bruce pouted up at Tony, his lower lip wobbling. He doesn't want to make Daddy sad–especially not while he's sick–but he's afraid of Clinty's costume when he has his face covered.

"It's okay, Uncle Tony," Clint insisted, seeing Bruce's pout. "I'll take it off. Daddy, c'n I wear my astronaut costume?"

"Sure, bug," Phil smiled.

"Monkey? Daddy, monkey?" Bruce asked, bouncing on his legs in front of Tony.

"Yeah, baby," Tony hummed. "You can wear your monkey costume."

"And I stay bear, right?" Steve asked, looking as Bucky stood up and went to Tony and Bruce.

"Right, babe," Bucky nodded. "Hey, Bruce, do you wanna have a piggyback ride to your room and I'll put your monkey costume on you?"

Bruce's eyes lit up and he nodded, excitedly. He climbed onto his uncle's back, giggling as Bucky galloped around the room and finally to his room, neighing like a horse. Bucky placed his nephew down on the changing table and took his shirt off before searching through the closet for the costume he wanted to wear.

Most of Clint's costumes are from past Halloweens, but Steve hasn't had any of those since he woke up and Bruce hasn't had any since he became a Little. Steve and Bruce felt left out when they saw all of Clint's costumes, so Tony immediately ordered them a bunch of costumes.

You can say what you'd like about Tony Stark, but Bucky has to admit he's a pretty good uncle/daddy.

"Wook, Daddy, I monkey!" Bruce exclaimed, running out to the nursery and stopping in front of Tony.

"I see, baby," Tony hummed, quietly, sipping on a smoothie.

"Ooh, what dat?!"

"It's a smoothie. I guess Pepper left it in the fridge for me when she was here."

"I have some?"

"Not of mine. I'm sick. I'll make you your own if you want."

"Otay," Bruce pouted. He really wanted some of Daddy's smoothie, but now he gets his own, which is pretty cool!

Tony went to stand up, but Natasha stopped him. "I'll make it," she volunteered."

"Me too?!" Steve asked. "I want one and help?!"

"Sure, buddy. Come on. I'm sure Clinty will want one too, so we can make him one too."

"Yay!" Steve squealed and jumped up, running to the kitchen with Natasha. Bucky gave Tony a sympathetic look when he saw him cringe upon hearing how loud Steve was.

"Sorry about him," Bucky whispered. "I'll remind him he needs to be quiet."

"Thanks," Tony sighed. He looked down at the baby attempting to crawl onto his lap and helped him up. "So you met Pepper, huh? What'd you think?"

"I wike Aunt Pepper," Bruce answered. "She nice. And pwetty. But, Daddy," Bruce whispered the next part into his daddy's ear, "she not as gooda cuddler as Aunt Tasha. Shh! Don't tell her, though!"

"Oh, alright," Tony chuckled. "Can I tell Aunt Tasha? I think she'd like to hear that."

Bruce thought for a minute, sucking on his thumb. Finally, he nodded. "Otay, Daddy. Can tell Aunt Tasha. But not Aunt Pepper."

"Alright." Tony smiled and pressed a kiss to the top of Bruce's head, wincing when Clint ran through the playroom, shouting about smoothies.

"Clinton Francis Barton," Phil whisper-hissed, shooting an apologetic look at Tony, before marching to his little boy and swatting his bottom hard. "I told you to be quiet because Uncle Tony is sick and loud noises make his head hurt."

"Oh, right," Clint whispered. "I'm sorry, Uncle Tony. I didn't mean ta be so loud."

"It's okay, Clint," Tony assured. "It's not your fault. You're a kid; you're supposed to be loud and have fun."

"Well, it's not your fault for bein' sick and havin' a hurty-head. Me n' my babies can have fun quietly until you're better!"

Tony smiled as Clint ran over and hugged him and Bruce tightly. Tony squeezed the boy and patted his back before gently pushing him away. "Go get your smoothie, kid. You know you want it."

"Okay! Wanna come, Brucie?"

Bruce nodded, eagerly, and reached for his big cousin. Clint picked the baby up and carried him to the kitchen for smoothies.

"You're so good with these kids," Phil observed, smiling.

Tony shrugged, sticking his straw back in his mouth and taking a big sip. He sighed, enjoying how good the cold felt against his throat. "I've had practice," he finally said, earning himself a confused look. "My best friend's had two Littles for 17 years. I don't see 'em much, but it's great when I do."

"Ah.... Well, that's good. Think we'll ever meet them?"

Tony shrugged again. "Maybe one day. I dunno."

"Alright. Well, for now, just focus on getting better. And let us know if you need anything else." Phil sat down on the couch, watching as Tony looked into his now-empty glass, frowning. He looked back up at Phil with a sad, innocent look on his face.

Phil sighed deeply and stood back up. "Your puppy eyes are almost as bad as Steve's."

"Thank you. I try." Tony nodded his head after handing his glass over and snuggling back into his blanket.

Bruce skipped back into the playroom with his smoothie in a Mickey Mouse cup. He sat on his daddy's lap, instantly cuddling into his chest. "Movie, Dada."

"Mhmm. What are we watching, Brucie?"

"Movie."

"Alright." Tony squeezed Bruce's waist, resting his head against the back of the chair.

"Dada otay?" Tony hummed and nodded. "I sowwy.... I meanta be big till you better, but getted scared...."

"It's okay, Bruce. Daddy's not mad or upset with you. You're not used to being big for so long. I'm glad you let Pepper take care of you, though."

Bruce cuddled closer to Tony, drinking his smoothie. He loves his daddy lots and lots and he's really happy that he's not mad at him, but he also feels really guilty because it's his fault Daddy is sick. He shoulda been able to take care of Daddy like he always does for him....

"Bruce...what's going on in that beautiful brain of yours?"

"I sad, Dada. Bad baby."

"You're not a bad baby.... Why do you think that?"

"Not should be baby wight now. Big take care'a Daddy."

"You don't need to take care of me, Brucie. Daddy's okay. I'm feeling a lot better now. I want you to take whatever thoughts you're feeling right now, okay? We're going to put them in this envelope." Tony produced an envelope from seemingly nowhere and opened it up to allow Bruce to 'put all of his thoughts inside of it.' He used to do this with his niece and nephew whenever they were upset and it always worked to make them feel somewhat better.

Tony stood with Bruce on his hip, carrying him and the envelope (and Bruce's smoothie) to the crafting table. He sat down and pulled out the crate of markers. "Pick whatever colors you want, Brucie-poo."

"Why, Dada?" Bruce asked as he picked out green and red.

"Because now we're going to write on the envelope. Ready?"

"Help me, Dada?"

Tony nodded and took the hand Bruce held his green marker in to guide his hand in forming the letters. "We're going to write: 'Bruce's stinky thoughts and feelings.' And send it to the dumpster."

Bruce looked down at the envelope with wide eyes. "Send letter dumpster?"

"Yeah, baby. Do you want to lick the envelope shut or do you want me to do it?"

"You, Dada. Pwease." Uncle Phil made him lick an envelope closed for him once and it was really really yucky! He never wants to do that again!

Tony licked the envelope shut, grimacing slightly at the taste—where's Phil with his smoothie?—then handed a stamp to Bruce to let him stick it on the corner. "There! All ready to send! Maybe Aunt Tasha will take you for a walk later or tomorrow and you can send it."

"Gotta do now, Dada! Stinky thoughts have'ta go bye-bye!"

"You're right, Bruce. Why don't you go ask Natasha to take you now? You can even wear your monkey costume if you want."

Tony's seen Littles walk around in worse things than a monkey costume before. In the summer, about half the Littles in New York walk around in just a diaper or a diaper and a shirt.

"Otay, Dada!" Bruce slipped off of Tony's lap and ran to Natasha, holding his letter to the dumpster.

A few minutes later, Steve and Clint were sat at the table on their Daddies laps with envelopes.

Bruce climbed back onto Tony's lap with his pacifier in his mouth. He already finished his smoothie and was told no more until later. "Daddy 'lope?"

"Daddy doesn't need an envelope, baby. This is for you and your cousins," Tony explained.

"Daddy 'lope," Bruce repeated. He grabbed an envelope and opened it up, thrusting it in front of his daddy's face. He looked into Tony's eyes, expectantly.

Tony sighed. There's no way he can refuse to do something when Bruce looks at him like that.

He closed his eyes and cupped his hands around his mouth the way he showed Bruce to do and whispered all of his fears and insecurities into them. He's terrified of Bruce deciding he hates him and wanting to leave. He's afraid that he's a horrible daddy and that he's going to mess Bruce's life up forever. He feels the same way about his nephews.

Finally, Tony put his thoughts into the envelope and sealed it shut. He took a red marker from Bruce, scribbling his name and 'to the dumpster' in the middle of the envelope. Bruce smiled, cuddling into his daddy's chest as he continued sucking his pacifier and watching his cousins finish with their letters.

"Unca' Tony come?" Steve asked as Bucky put his shoes on him.

Tony gently shook his head no. "I'm not feeling up to walking around outside right now. Maybe tomorrow." He's very thankful that his colds and sicknesses always go away quickly. The longest he's ever been sick was 6 days with the flu as a small child. He feels much better already, but not quite ready to leave the tower just yet. "Bruce, can you deliver my letter to the dumpster for me, please?"

"Yeah, Dada!" Bruce carefully took his daddy's letter and put it with his before hugging Daddy tightly and pressing his face into his neck. "Love you, Daddy."

"I love you too, Bruce." Tony gently rubbed his baby's back. "Come on, baby; let's go get your shoes on."


	18. Chapter 14 Bonus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyyyyy guys....  
> So I meant to post this yesterday but I ended up getting sick and I just couldn't be bothered to get out of bed and stare at a computer screen to copy and paste this chapter. Being sick wouldn't be that bad if I had a Bruce to take care of me, but I have no one. Literally my dad doesn't even care, he told me "well get better bc you're going to school tomorrow" (guess who's not in school)  
> I'm honestly not even happy with this bonus but I'm sick and panicking bc I usually have at least 2 chapters finished before I post anything and I haven't even started chapter 15... I'll try to work on it later if I feel better and on Friday when I'm home from school.  
> Idk I can't bring myself to edit this, but I don't really care rn. This is the longest I've had coherent thoughts in like 2 days and nothing I do makes sense. Whatever. I'm gonna go watch movies and sleep for 16 hours. Have a fantastical day.

Bruce sat on the floor to clean up his and his cousins' toys while he waits for them to get home or for Tony to wake up.

He would normally go to his lab to do work when he has time big, but he's all caught up on work now and he wants to stay close to Tony incase he needs him. Besides, this room is covered with toys, so he should probably clean them up before someone falls or steps on a lego (the worst thing he has ever experienced in his entire life).

Within a few minutes of cleaning all the toys, Bruce started to feel himself slipping into his headspace.

 _No._ He _can't_ slip into his headspace! He can't! He has to be big to take care of Tony! He especially doesn't want to wake Tony up and make him take care of him while he's sick! He also doesn't want to call Uncle Bucky or Phil or Aunt Tasha and make them come home. Stevie and Clinty would be upset! They've been looking forward to their plays for over a week! He also can't be alone while Little, though....

Bruce shifted on the floor and brought his hand down, pinching his thigh hard, hoping he'll stay big.

Bruce continued cleaning the toys on the floor, pinching himself every once in a while. It worked to keep him big. Until he heard the elevator start coming up to the floor he's on. Nobody's supposed to be home yet. He was told his family would be home around 4. It's only 1.

Bruce's thoughts started racing. He's never been in this situation before. He's never been without someone who could take care of him and protect him from someone if he slips into his headspace. (Not that he thinks Daddy wouldn't take care of him if something happened, but he's sick and in a deep sleep right now.) Bruce began wondering: _what if a serial killer is here? Or a robber? Or a kidnapper? What if they powered down JARVIS so he can't tell anyone what happened and I get kidnapped and killed–_

Bruce whimpered and hid behind the couch as the elevator doors slid apart. He's scared. He wants Daddy, but he has to stay big. He's the only one that can protect them now–well, he's probably not much of a match against whoever is out there: The Hulk is the only one that can protect them now.

"JARVIS, which door is Tony's room?" A lady's voice asked.

Bruce's eyes widened. She's going straight for Daddy! He won't let her! He won't let no one kidnap Daddy or hurt him!

Bruce jumped out from behind the couch, lunging at the lady, who caught him easily. Bruce thrashed around in her arms, but the lady held him tight.

"Woah, easy, buddy," she said. "It's okay, you don't have to attack me. Calm down."

"No! No hurt Daddy!" Bruce yelled, trying to kick the stranger.

"I won't. I'm not going to hurt Daddy; I promise. I work with Daddy. I work very closely with Daddy and I have for a long time. I'm sure you've heard my name at least once: I'm Pepper Potts. I'm the CEO for your Daddy's company."

Bruce started calming down the tiniest bit. That name sounds familiar. He remembers Daddy telling him stories about her and him and him saying she would beat him up if he didn't do something for work.... "JARVIS?" Bruce whimpered.

The AI knew exactly what Bruce wanted him to say. _"I can confirm this is indeed Pepper Potts. I would not let anyone up here if I felt they would harm you or your Daddy. I am only allowed to allow a few people you don't know up here, one of which is Miss Pepper Potts. The others are close friends of your Daddy."_

Bruce hummed and finally calmed down in Pepper's arms. He still doesn't want to be alone with someone he doesn't know, but it's better than being alone with a kidnapper or serial killer.

"Sowwy for attack," Bruce whispered. "Was scared."

"It's alright," Pepper cooed, rubbing the baby's back gently. "You're a good boy, aren't you?" Bruce hummed. "Yeah, you are. Is there anyone here to take care of you right now?"

"Daddy sick."

_"Miss Potts, shall I call Agent Coulson and inform him that Bruce is now Little–"_

"No!" Bruce cried. "Watchin' Steeb n' Cwinty pways!"

Pepper started rocking the boy in her arms, shushing him and patting his bottom. "It's okay, Bruce, shh.... That won't be necessary, JARVIS. I can stay and watch Bruce until Coulson gets back. Will you be okay with that, Bruce?"

Bruce hummed. When two people enter an age play relationship, they have to put down at least two names as 'godparents' for the Little or people who can take care of them if anything ever happens to their primary Caregiver. Bruce remembers he and Tony put a couple people down that they both agreed on or believed would be good, including, but not limited to: Phil Coulson, Bucky Barnes, Pepper Potts, and James Rhodes. Bruce guesses Pepper can't be that bad if Daddy would trust her to take care of him if anything were to happen to him. He finally nodded his consent towards Pepper babysitting him until his family returns.

"Alright. Sounds like a plan. First thing's first: let's go get you changed. Those clothes don't look very comfy."

Bruce shook his head no to confirm that they're not at all comfy. These jeans are scratchy, the shirt is rough, and underpants are an absolute no. He's not very fond of the idea of being naked in front of someone he doesn't know (especially a girl), but he wants to be comfortable, so he'll tough it out.

Bruce watched as Pepper put down the bag she was carrying and she finally grabbed his hand and let him lead her to his bedroom across the hall from Tony's. Once in there, Pepper helped lift Bruce onto the changing table. Bruce tensed slightly when Pepper's hands found their way to the hem of his shirt, which she easily noticed.

"Hey, Bruce," she whispered, trying to distract the baby. "This is a pretty cool room you have! Can you tell me your favorite part of it?"

Bruce eagerly nodded. "Uh...I wike allofit!"

"All of it! I like all of it too! Can you tell me what's on the walls?"

Bruce nodded again and began explaining his room, not at all phased by the fact that he was naked in front of a stranger for at least 3 minutes.

"Personally, Bruce, my favorite Disney princess is Rapunzel."

"Me too!" Bruce squealed, waving his arms excitedly. "Wuv Wapunzel! N' Ariel!"

"Ariel is amazing too!"

"And Mickey?"

"I love Mickey Mouse!"

Bruce smiled widely and hopped off the changing table, running to his dresser and pulling it open. "Gots lotsa Mickey shirts! Wook, Auntie Pepper!"

"I see! That's awesome, Bruce! Shall I put one on you?"

"Mhmm! This one, pwease!" Bruce pulled out a long sleeved gray shirt with a bunch of Mickey faces on it and handed it to Pepper. He thrust his arms up to allow her to put his shirt on him, then started running around his room to show her all of his cool toys.

"Dis Dex! He a dolphin n' super duper smart! Daddy say wike me."

"Well, your Daddy's right, Bruce. You're such a smart little guy!" Pepper smiled and tickled the baby's side, making him giggle.

"Watch movie, Auntie Pepper?"

"Sure, buddy. How about you go pick one out while I check on Daddy?"

"Oh, I come?! Pwease!" Bruce bounced on the balls of his feet, excitedly.

"Alright, but you have to be quiet, okay?" Bruce nodded, putting his finger up to his lips and shushing himself. He grabbed Pepper's hand and dragged her to Tony's room.

Tony was fast asleep in bed, snoring softly. "Daddy sick," Bruce whispered. He stepped forward and pressed a kiss to Tony's forehead. "Hot, Auntie Pepper."

"JARVIS, can you pull up Tony's vitals, please?" Jarvis pulled up a hologram showing all of Tony's vitals.

 _"Sir hasn't worsened or gotten any better since last night,"_ Jarvis explained.

"Does he need more medicine or anything?"

_"He isn't due for anymore medicine until 4:30. He just needs to rest for now."_

Pepper nodded, smiling slightly at the boy cuddled up next to Tony. "Bruce, don't you want to go watch a movie?"

Bruce hummed as he slid off the bed. "Tangled?"

"Sure, bud. Let's go get it set up."

Bruce held Pepper's hand as he led her out to the playroom. He plopped down on his butt in front of the TV with Dex in his arms. "Juice, pwease?"

"Alright. I'll be right back with your juice."

Pepper walked into the kitchen and poured apple juice into a bottle, handing it to Bruce when she sat next to him on the floor. Bruce cuddled into her aunt as he drank his juice and watched the movie.

\---

After watching _Tangled_ , Bruce heard his tummy growl.

"Uh oh," Pepper chuckled as her own stomach growled. "Looks like we've got some hungry hungry hippos here!" She poked Bruce's tummy, tickling him and making him giggle.

"Hungwy," Bruce agreed, nodding.

"Do you want to help me make some lunch?"

Bruce quickly nodded again. "Mac n' cheese?"

"Sure, buddy. Let's go." Pepper stood up and grabbed the baby's hand, leading him to the kitchen.

"Make Daddy too?"

"We can make him something, but I don't think mac and cheese is a good idea when he's sick."

"Toast?"

Pepper shook her head. "Tony doesn't like eating solid food–even if it's something light, like toast–when he's sick because he says it hurts his throat and chest when it goes down."

Bruce frowned. He's made Daddy eat lots of toast since he got sick. He tried not to eat a lot or say that he didn't want it, but in the end, he always ended up eating at least a full slice to make Bruce happy.

"Soup?"

"I think that would be good. Come on, buddy." Pepper held her hand out and finally led Bruce to the kitchen. She helped him hop up onto the counter and very carefully allowed him to help make lunch.

"So what were you doing when I got here?" Pepper asked, striking up a conversation with the Little. "Playing with your toys?"

Bruce shook his head. "Cweanin' cousins and me toys."

"Oh! You're such a good boy, aren't you? Cleaning your toys is very good and very helpful!" Pepper ruffled Bruce's long, curly hair. He smiled widely, rubbing his baby soft hair against his aunt's cheek.

"Bwing Dada soup?" Bruce asked once everything was finished cooking.

"Sure, buddy. But why don't you let me carry it? You can bring him a water bottle."

"Kay! Open fwidge?" Bruce slid off the counter and ran to the fridge.

The fridge, all the cabinets, and all the drawers have child locks, so the kids can't get into anything naughty and hurt themselves (or hide for hours).

Pepper walked over and opened the fridge, letting Bruce grab a water bottle. Bruce toddled to Tony's room with the water bottle. He placed the water on the night table and pressed a kiss to his Daddy's forehead.

"Wuv you, Dada," he whispered. Bruce waited for Pepper to put the soup on the table before he grabbed her hand and walked back to the kitchen.

"Is this your highchair, Bruce?" Pepper asked.

"No. Steve's." Bruce sat in his regular chair next to the highchair. "Steve no eat, gotta sit dere." Bruce slipped his fingers into his mouth, sucking on them as he watched his aunt spoon Mac n' cheese into an Iron Man bowl. "Water, pwease?"

"Sure, buddy. Hold on a minute."

After a few minutes, Pepper sat next to Bruce with a bowl and a baby bottle full of water. She spooned some Mac n' cheese onto the little Iron Man themed spoon and made air plane noises as she guided it into the laughing baby's mouth.

Pepper finished feeding Bruce his lunch that way, then led him to his bedroom and up onto the changing table. Bruce was mostly asleep by then, so he didn't need much distracting from the diaper change.

"No nap," Bruce muttered. "Gotta stay up for Dada."

Pepper sighed, helping Bruce sit up and slip into her arms. "It's been a long day, Bruce; I think a nap would be a good idea. Daddy will be okay if you take a nap for an hour."

"No," Bruce insisted. "Pway?"

Pepper glanced at her phone to see the time: 3:30. She had texted Coulson earlier to let him know that she's here with Bruce and he told her he and the others would be back around 4:30. Bruce clearly doesn't want to sleep (even though he clearly needs to), but she doesn't want to force him, especially when they don't know each other very well. She'll let Phil and Bucky take care of the cranky baby later. They shouldn't have left him alone when he was between headspaces. You can never know for sure when somebody will slip into their younger headspace after being unused to being out of it for so long, and it could be dangerous for them to be alone while Little.

"Alright, buddy. We can go play." Pepper held her hand out for Bruce, letting him lead her to the play room and to one of the numerous crates of legos. "Should you be playing with legos, Bruce? They're kind of small, aren't they?"

Bruce shrugged. "Daddy let me. No mouth. Not _Candy Land_ again...." Bruce shuddered at the thought of the _Candy Land_ incident.

Pepper looked confused, but didn't comment any further. "Alright, buddy. What do you want to build?"

Bruce just shrugged. He rarely has a solid idea of something to build while Little. He usually just puts blocks or legos together and makes stuff up as he goes along.

The two of them sat together, building in silence for a while until Bruce heard something from his daddy's room. He jumped up, worriedly. _What if Daddy fell out of bed and is hurt? What if he's having a coughing or sneezing fit and can't breathe? What if he needs a super big cuddle and a lot of baby kisses?!_   Bruce ran to Tony's room as fast as he could.

Well, that was his plan anyway.

Instead, his poor bare baby feet stomped on a bunch of legos. Bruce instantly burst into tears and fell on his butt. (Luckily, his thick, cushiony diaper kept his butt safe from legos.)

Pepper flew into action seconds after Bruce fell. She had the sobbing baby in her arms, rocking and bouncing him to the best of her ability, trying to comfort him.

"Wan' Daddy!"

"Okay, buddy," Pepper whispered, keeping her voice low so Bruce would have to stop crying so loudly to hear her. "Let's go see him."

Pepper stood with Bruce in her arms, but was forced to drop him on the couch when he started struggling and kicking his legs. "No! Daddy sick! He gotta sleep!"

Pepper sighed quietly. How do people handle this everyday? She's been here for less than 3 hours and she can barely do this. "JARVIS, what's Tony doing?"

 _"Sir is currently sleeping. He had just shifted his sleeping position when Bruce heard him and jumped up,"_ the AI replied.

"See, Bruce? Daddy is sleeping. He's perfectly fine and going to get better really soon. Why don't we go visit him for a minute? We can take his temperature, too."

"O-otay," Bruce sniffled, raising his arms towards his aunt. She scooped him into her arms and trudged to Tony's bedroom. Bruce isn't very heavy, but she's not used to carrying humans who can wriggle and potentially fall out of her arms and get hurt....

Bruce was placed on the bed next to Tony who was snoring softly.

"Wuv Daddy," Bruce whispered, gently stroking Tony's cheek.

Pepper smiled as she placed the thermometer under Tony's armpit. She knew that this relationship would be good for Tony, and she can see how much Bruce adores him. Even though Tony is asleep, she can tell that he loves Bruce a lot.

"Bruce, do you want to stay here with Daddy?" Pepper whispered. "You can, but you'll have to be super quiet and gentle."

"No," Bruce whispered. "Wanna baba n' cuddles wif you. Pwease?"

"Alright, buddy. In a few minutes, okay? Let's finish taking care of Daddy, then we have to get you your bottle."

Bruce hummed and cradled his foot, sniffling as he watched Pepper take care of his daddy.

Within a few minutes, Bruce was curled up on Pepper's lap, drinking a warm bottle while tears slipped out of his eyes. He's sleepy, his foot hurts, he misses his uncles, Aunt Tasha, and cousins, and he just wants Daddy. He's happy that he finally met Aunt Pepper, though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PS  
> I started a Hamilton story on here if you're interested. (It's not age play but I actually really like it. It's a modern day au/everyone is like 12-13. Just remember I've never actually seen Hamilton, just listen to the soundtrack a lot... If you like Hamilton maybe give it a shot c: )  
> okay bed time, have a good day


	19. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the last happy chapter before we get into the first Avengers movie and misery  
> The babies get a haircut and Steve gets cleared to go out in the field

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I SWEAR I MEANT TO POST THIS YESTERDAY MY COMPUTER WAS BEING SHIT AND THEN I HAD HOMEWORK  
> anyway  
> yeah this is the last happy chapter and then there will be a bulleted list of the events of the avengers movie (along with an actual chapter if I finish it. it's not looking so good so far << )  
> I'm almost done with my sophomore year of high school (June 20 is my last day) but then I'm getting a job over the summer and learning to drive so we'll see how updates in the summer goes...  
> Also I don't remember this chapter at all, I wrote it a few weeks ago..  
> alsooo idk if you saw that I posted a Hamilton story on here (one where they're all like 11-14/Jefferson and Madison are 17) but I'm writing a Hamilton story where (so far Ham and Jeff but i'm only a few chapters in) are little. idk if i'll post it (it needs a lot work if I do post it) but I'll post it if anyone is interested ^^ it's kinda horrible and trash though so probably no one is interested xD

_Steve stood in the plane after having defeated Red Skull. He slowly slid down to the floor, shaking and feeling himself slip into his Little headspace. This is overwhelming. He's scared now. What's going to happen now?_

_Bucky knelt in front of Steve and pulled him in for a tight hug. Steve felt himself calming down. Daddy will fix everything. Everything will be okay because Daddy is here now._

"Have you always put that much trust in Bucky?" Tori asked as Steve finished describing the events following Red Skull up to Bucky sitting in the pilot's seat. He couldn't handle talking about or even thinking about that, so Tori told him to stop.

"Of course I have," Steve simply stated. "He's always been there for me. He's been protecting me for...forever. He's never let me down."

Tori's eyes widened slightly. "Never? In all the years you've known each other? In almost 20 years...not once?" Steve shook his head after thinking for a moment, even though he knew he didn't need to. "That's amazing." Tori smiled at Steve.

"Yeah, it is," he agreed. "Bucky's always been a great friend. I trust him so much, and I know he trusts me too. That's what makes our relationship so great."

"That's good. I'm glad. You know, Steve? You're doing so much better now than when you started coming to see me. I'd reckon you'll be able to go back in the field soon."

Steve looked at his therapist with wide, excited eyes. "Really? You think so?"

"I do. But don't try to go out because I said you _probably_ could, and don't get upset if you fail your psych evaluation. The worst that could happen is we have more frequent meetings."

"I don't think that's that bad," Steve shrugged. "I like talking to you," he admitted.

"That's good. I'm glad. I like talking to you, too, Steve."

"I think I go for my psych eval tomorrow or the day after.... I assume that since you work with S.H.I.E.L.D., they'll tell you if I'm cleared or not?"

"They should, yes."

"Okay. Well, let's hope for the best!"

Tori smiled gently at her patient. "Joshua and I will be thinking of you."

"Thank you both. Tell Joshua I'll see him at the next meeting this week!"

"Of course. Would you like to bring Bucky in or are you ready to go?"

"Ah-I think I'm ready to go now. I promised Clint that Aunt Natasha and I would bring him to the park today and it'll be too dark to go soon."

"Alright. Have fun with your cousin and aunt, Steve. You can tell Bucky to email me about your next appointment."

"Thanks! We will and I'll tell him! Bye, have a good day!" Steve walked out to the waiting room, tapping on his sleeping best friend's shoulder. Bucky's been up late the past few nights, dealing with The Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. and crying, cranky Littles due to them not getting enough attention.

"Hmm? Stevie?"

"Yeah.... Ready to go home? You can take a nap when we get there–I'm gonna go to the park with Clinty and Aunt Tasha."

"Alright. 'M comin'. Do you need the bathroom?"

"Not right now. I'll go before I go out."

"Kay." Bucky stood and stretched his back out, yawning and rubbing sleep out of his eyes with a fist. "I want you to wear a pull-up out."

Steve blushed deeply, but nodded. "Tori said she thinks I'll be cleared to go out in the field soon."

"That right?" Bucky smiled at his friend, perking up now.

"Mhm! She said I'm doing a lot better than when I started coming! Oh, and she said for you to email her about my next appointment."

"Alright. I'll email her maybe tomorrow. Ready to get goin'?"

"Yeah!" Steve smiled as he followed his friend down to the car.

\---

"No! No! Daddy, no!" Clint sobbed. "I don't wanna haircut! I don't care if Pepper comes, but she's not touching my hair!"

"Clint!" Phil whisper-hissed. "You're going to wake Steve! He needs to rest before his psych eval tonight!"

"Sorry, Daddy," Clint sniffed, quietly. "But I still don't wanna haircut."

"I'm sorry. I know you don't, but it's time. Your hair is getting too long and you don't like me brushing it, so it's either let me brush your hair, or it's gotta go. You won't be bald or even have as little hair as me if you don't want, but you need to get some of that cut off. Your cousins are getting their hair cut too; don't you want to set a good example for them?" Phil knows that he's practically bribing Clint with his cousins, but he doesn't care at this point. He's been arguing with Clint for an hour now, and for four months prior about getting a haircut. He's desperate by now, and he knows that Clint will do just about anything for his little cousins.

"Yeah! Of course I do, Daddy!"

"Lower your voice, please, Clint. I know you do. So you're going to sit and be a good boy while Pepper cuts your hair, then we can all have ice cream tonight to celebrate Steve being cleared?"

"Mhm! Is he bein' cleared for real, Daddy?" Clint is so excited for his baby cousin if he is! He knows he's been waiting for this, practically since he woke up in 2011!

"Well, we don't know for certain yet, but I'm pretty sure he will be."

"Okay! Uncle Bucky, is Stevie gonna have a tantrum if he's not cleared like last time?"

"He better not," Bucky huffed around his straw. Iced coffee is quite possibly the best thing in existence. Bucky and Tony have had many arguments about hot versus iced coffee. "If he ever does anything like that again he won't be sitting for a week."

Clint frowned, hugging Esther tightly. "Don't hurt my baby cousin. He doesn't know any better and he's just upset–he can't help havin' a tantrum."

Bucky sighed deeply, plopping down on the couch next to Phil. He put his head in his hands. "I won't hurt him, Clint. I would never hurt him. I'm just really tired and my brain has no filter right now...."

"Why don't you take a nap, Uncle Bucky?"

"Can't. I have work to do." Bucky reached for his laptop, but Clint sat in the way.

"Do your work later, Uncle Bucky. You're super tired. Go take a nap until the babies wake up. Work won't go nowhere. Trust me–I know." Clint cringed, thinking of all the paper work he has piling up on his desk.... He'll worry about that when he's big again. For now, he wants to play with his stuffed elephant and trucks.

Bucky sighed, but finally agreed, slipping into his room and falling asleep the second his head hit the pillow.

"You're a sweet boy," Phil whispered, pulling Clint onto his lap and squeezing him tightly.

"I can be," Clint shrugged. He cuddled into his daddy's chest and hugged Esther.

"You okay, bug?"

"Yeah, Daddy. Don't wanna haircut.... Don't like it."

Phil sighed. "I know, bug.... But it's necessary." Phil pressed a kiss to Clint's cheek. "Wanna watch a movie?"

"No. Read to me. Please, Daddy?"

"Alright, bug. Go get some books you want me to read."

Clint climbed off of Phil's lap and ran to his room to get his favorite books and his blankie. A minute later he was cuddled back on Phil's lap in his blanket with Esther while Phil started reading a book.

\---

"Brucie! Where are you, baby?" Tony called. "Aunt Pepper's almost here!"

Bruce stayed silent. He doesn't want a haircut! He knows that's why Aunt Pepper is coming here today! He likes his hair, even if it is a little hard to take care of sometimes! He doesn't want to get it cut!

"Bruce, please come to Daddy. I just wanna talk to you for a minute."

Bruce whispered a reply to JARVIS; the AI has been communicating between Bruce and Tony for 15 minutes. He hasn't told Tony where he is because he hasn't asked, and since Bruce isn't in any danger, he has no reason to give up Bruce's location.

 _"Do you promise?"_ JARVIS asked for Bruce.

"I swear."

Bruce stuck his pacifier in his mouth and finally crawled out from behind Tony's clothes and stepped out of the closet. "No haircut," Bruce insisted, staring into Tony's eyes as he was picked up.

"Baby," Tony sighed, sitting on the edge of his bed with Bruce on his lap.

"No."

"Brucie.... Look at how long your hair is." Tony ran his hand through Bruce's long, curly hair. "It doesn't hurt. Pepper does a good job at cutting hair; she cuts my hair.... Why don't you want a haircut, baby?"

"I wike my hair, Dada! No cut!"

"We don't have to cut it all, baby. Just a bit so it's easier to take care of. I promise it won't be scary and it won't hurt.... If you're a good boy while you get your hair cut, you can have ice cream tonight."

"...Ice cweam? Chocowate?"

"If that's what you want."

"Yes! Now, Dada?"

"After dinner. Maybe we can even watch a movie while we eat."

"Yay! Go see Aunt Pepper now?"

"Almost, baby. Let's go see your cousins and wait for Aunt Pepper."

\---

"No. Absolutely not," Steve declared, crossing his arms and glaring at Bucky. "Don't you remember what happened last time I got a haircut?"

Bucky sighed. Of course he remembers. Steve got scared and started squirming. The man cutting his hair accidentally cut Steve's ear, making him start crying and freak out when he saw the blood on his fingers.

"That's not going to happen again, Stevie. Pepper is good; she won't cut you."

"No. I don't even need a haircut."

"Babe, look at this. You look like a girl." Bucky ran his hand through Steve's nearly shoulder-length hair. The serum causes their hair to grow faster than normal, so they need haircuts more often.

"I don't care. Girls are nice."

"They are, but that doesn't mean you gotta look like one."

"I don't care. I'm going to go get changed." Steve grabbed some clothes and ran into the bathroom to change out of his dinosaur pajamas. He doesn't like haircuts. He always gets cut when he gets his hair cut. _Always_. Ever since he was a kid, but that was mostly because he couldn't hold in his sneezes or coughs. After the serum he would get cut when he squirmed too much or if he got scared and started shaking.

He doesn't like having long hair, but he would rather have long hair than a bloody ear.

After putting a pull-up, sweatpants, and a t-shirt on, Steve slowly walked out of the bathroom and sat between his cousins. He knows neither of them want to get their hair cut either.

"Our daddies are so mean, aren't they?" Steve asked, pulling Bruce onto his lap. "Making us get haircuts...."

"Yeah," Bruce whispered, curling into his big cousin. "No wanna cut."

Clint saw this as his chance to comfort his babies about their haircuts. "It'll be okay, babies!" He promised, hugging them both tightly. "It won't hurt. We'll all have super pretty hair afterwards too!" Clint pressed kisses to his little cousins' heads. "And then we'll have ice cream after dinner tonight!"

"Chocowate," Bruce stated, nodding his head. Chocolate ice cream sounds amazing right now! He doesn't want to wait for dessert tonight, but he has no choice because nobody will give him ice cream now and he can't open the freezer.

"That sounds really yummy," Steve agreed. "Think we can convince my daddy to give Bear and Bunny ice cream too?" Steve isn't feeling completely big right now and he doesn't like calling Bucky _uncle_ even if it's for his cousins. It feels weird because Bucky's _not_ his uncle, he's _Daddy!_

"Yeah!" Clint exclaimed. "And Esther and Dex too! They deserve ice cream the mostest!"

Steve was about to reply to his big cousin when he heard the elevator doors opening and he jumped instead. JARVIS usually warns them when somebody is coming up the elevator, so he's not used to it opening without hearing a smooth British voice announce that _"somebody is about to step off the elevator onto this floor."_

"Aunt Pepper!" Bruce exclaimed. He slid off of Steve's lap and ran to Pepper, hugging her tightly.

"Hey, buddy," Pepper smiled. "How have you been?"

"Good!" Bruce held onto his aunt like a koala to a tree.

Steve eventually had to take him so Pepper could put her bag down.

"Who's ready for haircuts?" Tony called in a singsong voice. Bruce swatted at Tony like a cat from where he was safely nestled into his cousin's chest.

"I'll go first," Clint volunteered, bravely. He grabbed his Daddy's hand and slowly followed Pepper into the kitchen.

"Good luck, Clinty," Steve teased, earring him a glare from Phil and a swat on his bottom from Bucky.

"You're next, Steve," Bucky stated.

"Oh no I'm not! Brucie said he wants to go next."

"What?" Bruce asked, head shooting up. His eyes widened. "No! No, no! Dada!" Bruce squirmed in Steve's arms, reaching for Tony. He was finally picked up and he hid his head under his daddy's shirt.

"Steve, stop upsetting your cousins," Bucky scolded.

"Sorry," Steve mumbled. "Jus' don' wanna get hurt."

"No hurt, Steeb," Bruce promised, peeking his head out of Tony's shirt. "Dada pwomise no. Aunt Pepper good. No hurt."

"Okay," Steve finally whispered. He guesses if Bruce seems so sure, he'll try. He also doesn't want to scare Bruce anymore, which he knows he'll get scared if he notices Steve freaking out. "Wanna play blocks?"

Bruce quickly nodded and sat in front of the blocks on the floor. He pushed hair from his eyes, realizing he really _does_ need a haircut. He looked up at his cousin and pushed the hair out of his face. They both need haircuts. Badly.

\---

Steve ran off the elevator, jumping into his big cousin's arms.

"Hey, Stevie," Clint chuckled. "Have a good day?"

"Yeah!" Steve exclaimed. "The-the psychiatrist there said I'm doin' real good and copin' good 'n she just hasta talk to Tori then I can go out! The doctor said I should eat a bit more 'n workout more, but he said I can go out too! 'M clear, Clinty!" Steve is clearly big, but is so excited that he can't talk clearly. Nevertheless, Clint understood him perfectly.

"That's great, Steve! I'm so happy for you! You've been doing so great lately!"

Steve smiled widely, bouncing lightly on his feet. "Where's Brucie? Wanna tell him! 'N Uncle Tony and Phil and Aunt Natasha!"

"Bruce and Tony are down in their labs. Natasha and Pepper are at the store. Phil is in the shower."

"Kay. I feel like running around! I'm really excited and gotta lotta energy!"

"Why don't you two go down to the gym and run around or train for a bit?" Bucky suggested, winking at Clint. Clint nodded.

"Yeah. That sounds fun. Wanna do that, Steve? I can teach you how to shoot a bow and arrow!" Clint can't believe he's never showed Steve his shooting skills yet! It's been months! What the heck is wrong with him?!

"Yeah! Let's go!" Steve tried to run to the elevator, but Clint grabbed the back of his pants to stop him.

"I think we should go use the bathroom and change our clothes first. Do you need to wear a pull-up down there?"

"I don't _need_ to, but Bucky probably wants me to.... Come on, let's hurry!" Steve pulled his clothes off as he ran to the bathroom, then to his bedroom to change.

\---

Clint had to carry Steve upstairs after he fell asleep training. They stayed down in the gym for nearly three hours, mostly just running around and playing (though, they stayed big–if one of them had slipped into their headspace, the other would've brought them up to the nursery and if both of them had slipped, their daddies would have been down to them in less than a minute and JARVIS wouldn't have let them near anything dangerous).

The two boys played tag, practiced sparring, and shot arrows. Steve was surprisingly good for his first time, but was still no match for Clint. After switching between the activities numerous times, Steve laid down on the floor and promptly fell asleep. Clint was quick to scoop him up and bring him to the nursery.

Everyone was up there, putting the finishing touches on Steve's party. Natasha and Pepper went out to buy food, snacks, and ice cream. Tony worked on upgrading Steve's suit. Bucky and Phil worked on a few presents for Steve. Clint and Bruce made a giant ' _congratulations_ ' banner and drew a lot of pictures and made decorations. All of them set everything up while Clint was with Steve in the gym.

Clint made sure to have JARVIS tell everyone Steve was sleeping so they didn't yell and wake him up. The kid has already had a long day without any partying–a nap will be good for him.

It would have been, anyway. Steve's nap was short-lived. He woke up as soon as Clint placed him down on the changing table.

"I don't wanna nap," Steve mumbled, rubbing his eyes. "Too excited."

"I know. I'm excited too. What if I laid down with you?"

"No."

Clint sighed. Now he knows how Phil feels when he refuses to go to sleep or take a nap. "Okay, Stevie. Let's get you changed and then we can go out and see everyone." Steve hummed and let his cousin change him. As soon as he had a diaper on he slipped off the changing table and ran out to the playroom.

Steve gasped when he entered.

A giant blue banner with red wording reading 'Congratulations!" hung in the archway to the kitchen. There were drawings everywhere of Steve and the other Avengers fighting different bad guys. Pictures of his shield and other Captain America themed things decorated the walls. There was a long table covered with food and Steve thought he could see presents underneath it!

"This is amazing!" He exclaimed, running around the room to hug everyone. "Thank you all so much! I love this!"

"You're welcome," Phil smiled. "We figured you would like something like this to celebrate getting cleared."

"Yeah! I really do! Thank you, Uncle Phil, this is awesome!"

"Presents?" Bruce asked from Tony's hip. His voice isn't as high as it would be if he was Little, so Steve is guessing he's somewhere between big and little right now.

"Not yet," Tony answered, bouncing him lightly. Bruce sighed, but rested his head against Tony's shoulder and pulled his phone out of his back pocket.

"Wanna watch a movie, Stevie?" Bucky asked.

"Yeah! Can we watch a scary movie? And then do presents?"

Bucky gave Steve a strange look. "Are you sure you want a scary movie, babe?"

"Uh-huh! Clint, can you tell JARVIS to put on the best scary movie you know?"

"Definitely," Clint answered, slowly, glancing at Bruce who was now sucking his thumb as he played candy crush. "But I don't know if we should watch right now. Brucie seems pretty little...."

Bruce's head snapped up at this. "Not little!" He exclaimed around his thumb. "I can be big! Don't gotta be Little all the time! Let's watch a scary movie! I'll be fine!"

Clint looked at all the adults in the room, sighing when they all shrugged or nodded. Why does he seem to be the most responsible person today? This is weird. "Okay, fine. JARVIS, you know what to do."

Seconds later, the TV started playing a movie.

\---

By the end of the movie Steve and Bruce were fast asleep. Luckily they fell asleep before anything too scary happened, so Bucky and Tony are pretty confident they won't be woken up at 2 AM with babies crying because of nightmares. _Them_ on the other hand....

"How the hell can you watch this and genuinely enjoy it?" Bucky sighed, wincing as there was another inaccurate blood splatter from someone being shot–he used to be a sniper; he knows blood doesn't _splatter_ like that when somebody is shot.

"Who said I enjoy it?" Clint asked, grabbing another handful of popcorn. "I mostly like watching these to point out all the inaccuracies from deaths, et cetera. I'm not allowed to watch scary movies in movie theaters anymore."

"Don't you get scared at least a little? Don't you have nightmares?"

"Sometimes. Not often, though." Clint shrugged and reached for the candy bowl on Steve's lap. He yelped when his cousin smacked his hand and curled into a ball, protectively around the candy bowl. "Uncle Bucky–!"

Bucky chuckled. "I don't think you're getting any candy, Clint."

"But he's asleep!"

Bucky shrugged. "Go get one of the other bowls from the table."

Clint groaned and leaned, dramatically against Phil. "But it's so far! Daddy–"

"Nope. Your legs aren't broken. I don't even really want you to _have_ more candy, so I'm definitely not getting it _for_ you."

"Mean."

Phil just shrugged. "You better save room for ice cream after dinner."

Clint gasped, somehow having forgotten about ice cream.

"Can we have dinner and ice cream when the babies wake up?"

"I told Steve he could open presents after the movie," Bucky pointed out. "We'll eat after that, okay?"

"Kay! Can we do it now?"

"Let them sleep for a little longer." Bucky ran his hand through Steve's short hair. "They've had a long day. We all have. I think we'll probably go to bed after ice cream."

"That sounds good!" Phil yawned, causing Clint to whine and curl against his chest. 

Five minutes later Clint was asleep.

\---

" _Daddy!_ " Steve shot up off of Bucky's lap, landing on the floor.

"Are you okay, baby?" Bucky asked, lifting his baby back onto his lap.

"Yeah. Didn't mean'ta fall asleep."

"Well, Im glad you did. I don't think that would have been a good movie for you to watch."

"Woulda been fine, Daddy. Not a baby."

"If you say so. Do you need to be changed?"

Steve shrugged, blushing. He's still mostly big right now; he doesn't like that he has to wear a diaper.

"C'mon, babe. Let's go." Bucky stood up with Steve in his arms and carried him to his room.

By the time they got back, Bruce was awake in Tony's arms, drinking a bottle. Clint was squirming in Phil's lap, slowly waking up.

"Presents now?" Steve demanded.

"Yes, baby. Here, go to Aunt Tasha while I get them."

Bucky placed Steve on Natasha's lap before walking over to the snack table and bringing all the presents over. Steve bounced, excitedly, leaping off of Natasha's lap and on the floor by the presents. He quickly tore open the ones in childish wrapping paper, seeing new Captain America themed toys, pajamas, and clothes.

"Thank you, thank you! I love it all!"

"You're welcome, Steve," Phil chuckled.

"Open the others now!" Bruce demanded around his bottle.

Steve obediently pulled the other present over to him and tore the Captain America wrapping paper off. It was just a small box. Inside the box was a piece of paper  that said, "Go to the left side of the couch. Take 10 steps forward, 14 steps to the left. Look under the chair."

Steve's brow furrowed, but he followed the directions, eventually finding a box wrapped in Captain America paper. There were a pair of red boots in it and another piece of paper with written directions.

Eventually Steve had all the parts for a new version of his Captain America suit. The final box was his cowl along with a piece of paper reading, "Ask Tony for your last present."

Steve ran to Tony, tripping over a toy version of his shield. He groaned and pushed himself up onto his knees.

"Are you okay, baby?" Bucky asked.

"Yeah! Not hurt. Uncle Tony, have last present, pwease?"

"I _guess_ so," Tony said. " _If_ you give me a kiss first."

Steve hopped up and pressed a kiss to Tony's cheek. Tony smiled and reached under the chair he was sat in, handing the box to Steve, who sat down on his butt and ripped it open. He pulled out his shield and hugged it tightly. He's missed his shield. He used to sleep with it before the plane.

"What else is in there, baby?" Bucky chuckled, pointing his camera at Steve. Steve gently set his shield next to him on the floor and reached back into the box, pulling out a stack of papers. He quickly flipped through them, brow furrowing as he tried to understand what he was reading.

Finally he got it.

"Mission?" He asked, looking up at Bucky with wide eyes.

"Yes. Probably very soon," Bucky answered, smiling.

Steve jumped up and tackled Bucky, hugging him tightly. "Dada!" He squealed, excitedly.

Bucky laughed, wrapping his arms around Steve. "Are you happy, baby?"

"Yeah! This is awesome! Thank you all so much!"

"Ice cream now!" Bruce begged.

The adults all shared a look and shrugged. "I don't see the harm in having ice cream before dinner just this once," Tony said. "Come on, kiddos."


	20. Events of Avengers1 Movie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So this is just a nice little bulleted list of what happened for the Battle of New York  
> There will be a real chapter in like 2 minute so I'll say what would usually be in my notes there :-P

-It's basically the same beginning as the actual movie. From where ch 15 left off, this begins about two weeks later. Steve (and all the others) have been training like hell. One day Clint gets called in to S.H.I.E.L.D. and thus the movie starts....

-Steve and Bruce (and everyone else) have been freaking out really bad bc they miss Clint and they're worried/scared.

-Loki/Thor make the same appearance as in the movie. When Thor gets to S.H.I.E.L.D. Steve and Bruce are pretty scared of him, but try to hide it. They also fight their little headspaces a lot bc they don't know if Thor knows about littles (he knows a bit bc the first Thor movie still happened exactly the same except with maybe Darcy(?) being little and Jane as her mommy(?) and them explaining littles to Thor), but regardless, Steve and Bruce aren't little basically from the time Clint is taken until right after they get him back.

-Phil still gets stabbed, but DOES **_NOT_** DIE. In the movie, he 'died' to get the Avengers to work together and be closer, etc. They are already close in this and work well together and are all comforting each other/spending time together trying to figure everything out. So Phil gets stabbed and will end up in a hospital for a month, then he'll go home to the tower and everything will be fine.

-Clint clings to Natasha when he's back to normal and manages to get in a diaper and get a few minutes of comfort and explanations before they go back out to everyone.

-Tony still falls through the portal and everyone is terrified (Steve and Clint are crying and shaking), Hulk/Bruce roars/screams before turning back to normal when Tony wakes up (Bruce promptly throws himself into Tony's arms, sobbing and telling him to never do that again).

-Shawarma

-Clint makes himself a little nest in Phil's hospital room that he stays in when the nurses try to kick him out (Nat and Bucky stopped bothering trying to keep him home after he ran away 6 nights in a row).

-Thor brings Loki to Asgard, then returns to Earth to help clean up (Odin tells him to come back in a month to check on Loki).

-The kids eventually warm up to Thor and discover they really like him (Uncle Thor!)


	21. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eyyyyyy I don't remember writing this so warnings: ????

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooooo yeah  
> I have the next chapter written but after that I have no ideas whatsoever  
> I have a few ideas but it's too early for any of them, so if you have any ideas, let me know!  
> Also here's a spoiler for the next chapter: LOKI  
> enjoy, have a nice day, I'm going back to my sandwich (I'm posting this during lunch in school whoops)  
> And if anyone cares, I handed in my first job application yesterday (6/4/17) so yeah I might be getting a job soon and if I do IDK how updating/writing will work out, along with learning to drive this summer (12 more days of school ;-; my last day is 6/20)  
> Aaannnnddd last thing that no one cares about: I freaking love All Time Low's new album, Nightmares is my fucking jam  
> k have a good day/week, see you soon

_I killed people. I've killed people before, but those were always bad people and it was of my own willingness. These people were innocent. I killed them against my will._  
 _Mind control...everything is fuzzy. You can't form coherent thoughts. The only thing running through your mind is 'master. I have to do what they say. I have to make them happy.' So you do anything and everything they tell you._  
 _Sometimes, even after you're not being mind controlled, there are these moments where you still feel like you're under their power. It's confusing and scary. If you don't have anyone to help you, or if you're not strong enough to fight it, you carry out their commands. You don't know it's wrong. You_ can _fight it, but fighting is hard. It doesn't always work. Sometimes it's easier to give up and just...let your mind fall back to that last command. But when that happens, it's harder for somebody else to pull you out of that mindset._

"Clint? Is that you, baby?"

Clint was pulled out of his writings to look up at Phil, his eyes barely open. Bandages are wrapped thickly around his torso where he was stabbed.

"Yeah. Hi, Daddy. How're you feelin'?" Clint felt himself slowly slipping into his little headspace as he scooted his chair closer to Phil's bedside.

Phil smiled, weakly. "I'm alright, bug. How are you doing?"

Clint shrugged in response. He doesn't want to say he's okay, because that would be lying, which isn't good. But at the same time he doesn't want to talk about how he's doing and worry Daddy. The nurses say he's not supposed to get stressed out, and Clint will definitely stress him out if he says what he's thinking.

"Love you, Daddy."

"I love you too, bug. Have you been to see your therapist at all?"

"Well, she comed in here when you was sleeping a few times. We talked lots n' she telled me to write my ex-exper'ences from Loki...and everythin' else I think about. So I do that lots. Was doing that afore you waked up, Daddy."

"That's good. Could I read what you wrote?"

Clint hugged his tablet to his chest, guiltily. He doesn't want Daddy to read it. Daddy will get sad and stressed out and the nurses will get mad and–

"That's okay, bug. It's okay if you don't want me to read it. I don't mind." Phil hid his wince as he reached his hand out to take Clint's and massage his hand.

"Sorry, Daddy...." Clint can tell that Daddy is upset he can't read what he had written.

"Oh, it's okay, Clinty. I really don't mind. If you don't want to show me what you wrote, that's perfectly fine. As long as I know you're doing something to cope and you feel safe."

Clint sucked in a breath. "'M copin, Daddy. Cassie helps. Feel little safe since L-Loki's on Asgard."

"Good." Phil lightly squeezed his little boy's hand before bringing his hand up to kiss it. "How's everyone else doing?"

"Everyone's good. Uncle Tony haves bad dreams, so Brucie sleeps with him. No one is hurt, though. Everyone's copin', talkin' ta ther'pists. Even Uncle Tony. Aunt Tasha says she's fine, but I don't think she is, Daddy. She won't talk ta me, though. Uncle Bucky says he's been talkin' to her."

"That's good." Phil's eyes started to close as his breathing slowed somewhat.

"Goodnight, Daddy," Clint whispered. He pulled the thick blanket up to his daddy's neck and pressed a kiss to his cheek before climbing into his nest and crying himself to sleep.

\---

"Dada, miss Cwinty and Unca Phil," Steve whispered late at night.

"I know, babe," Bucky replied, pulling Steve into his arms. Bucky, Steve, and Natasha have been sleeping together lately. Steve freaked out the first night he woke up in his crib after Loki and had a panic attack, so Bucky wants to keep him close by incase something happens again. So far it hasn't, probably _because_ of him and Natasha sandwiching him in on the bed.

"When they come home?"

"I don't know. Clint probably won't come home until Uncle Phil comes back, and he won't come back until he's well enough to leave S.H.I.E.L.D.'s medical room. Maybe even not then. He might want to be alone for a while. I don't know, though, so don't get upset, okay?"

"Otay." Steve pressed his face into Bucky's chest.

"Are you upset?" Steve nodded. "Why?"

"Miss 'em. Don't want them to go away."

"I know.... How about we go visit them tomorrow? Hm? That sound good?"

"Yeah, Dada. Aunt Tasha, Unca Tony, Bwucie come too? N' Unca Thor!"

"We'll have to ask if they want to, but I'm sure everyone will say okay."

"Otay, Dada. 'An we bwing cookies? N' books n' toys for Cwinty? N' color pictures for Unca Phil?"

"Sure, babe. You'd better go to sleep now so you can color some pictures and bake cookies."

"Otay. Night, Daddy."

"Night, baby. Love you." Bucky pressed a kiss to Steve's forehead as Natasha slipped into the room, wearing shorts and one of Bucky's shirts. She climbed into bed on Steve's other side and wrapped an arm around his waist.

"Night, Aunt Tasha," Steve yawned, placing his hand on top of hers. "Wuv you both."

"We love you too, Steve. Sleep good," Natasha whispered before starting to sing a Russian lullaby. She's been doing that every night. That, along with both of them sleeping with him keep Steve's nightmares at bay.

\---

"Dada!" Bruce shouted, sobbing. "Dada! No!" The baby thrashed around wildly in bed, nearly smacking Tony in the mouth. Luckily, Tony was able to wake up and restrain him before either of them got hurt.

"Bruce! It's okay, baby! Daddy's here; just wake up, baby," Tony pleaded.

Bruce gasped as he opened his eyes and looked around the room. His eyes finally landed on Tony and he immediately bursted into tears and launched himself into his arms.

Tony caught him and rubbed his baby's back soothingly. "It's okay, baby," he whispered. "Daddy's right here.... Do you want to talk about your dream?"

"D-Dada f-falled n' n'–" Bruce cut himself off with another set of tears.

"Oh, baby.... It's okay. I'm right here. That won't happen again. We're all safe now. Promise." Tony squeezed Bruce tightly. He refused to let Bruce see that he's shaking, too. Bruce woke Tony up from a nightmare–coincidentally from the same nightmare.

"Dada...." Bruce nuzzled his face into Tony's neck, making the man smile. He wishes he had met Bruce and had him as his Little earlier–before Afghanistan. Taking care of Bruce helps him. Though, it's probably a good thing that he didn't, because Bruce would likely be traumatized.

"How about a bottle, baby? We can rock for a bit and watch something or read a story."

"Sound good, Dada." Bruce grabbed his pacifier from where it was clipped to his shirt and stuck it in his mouth, sucking lightly on it. He held Dex tightly under one arm while the other was wrapped around Daddy's neck.

Tony quickly made a warm bottle one-handed and sat on the couch with Bruce laid in the crook of his arm. "Book or TV, baby?"

"Book," Bruce mumbled around his pacifier.

"Okay. You sit here while I run to your room and grab a couple for you to choose from."

Tony placed Bruce next to him on the couch without waiting for him to agree or protest, and he stood and quickly made his way to Bruce's bedroom.

Bruce whimpered around the bottle in his mouth. _It's dark.... And I'm alone.... Like Daddy when he was in the wormhole. Daddy.... Daddy? Where's Daddy?! DADDY!_

Bruce rolled off the couch and curled into a ball, sobbing loudly for his daddy.

"Bruce! What's wrong, buddy?" Bucky asked, crouching next to the baby and pulling him into his arms. "Where's Daddy?"

"D-don't know!" Bruce sobbed, pressing his face into his uncle's chest. "Wan' Dada!"

"Woah, what's going on?" Tony demanded as he returned, dropping the books on the couch. He knelt next to Bucky and pulled Bruce to him. "What happened?"

"That's what _I_ want to know," Bucky said with his arms crossed.

"Bruce woke up with a nightmare. I got him a bottle, then he wanted to be read to. I just left him on the couch for a little bit!"

" _Alone?_ You know he's a baby; he can't be left alone. Especially not after–everything that happened."

"He's always been fine alone for _20 seconds_ before. I didn't know this would happen. I didn't think he would get so scared."

Bruce whimpered as Bucky and Tony continued going back and forth about him having been left alone.

"Stoppit!" Steve demanded, breaking free of Natasha's hold on him and crouching next to Bruce. "No fight in front of Bwucie. He no wike it. Me either, but Bwuce more important."

"He's not more important than you," Bucky frowned, hugging both babies. "You and your cousins are all equally important. We're sorry for fighting. We shouldn't have."

"Yeah," Tony agreed. "We won't fight in front of you boys again. And, Bruce, I'm sorry for leaving you alone. I won't leave you ever again."

"Otay, Dada," Bruce whispered.

"How about we all sit down and relax for a bit now?" Natasha suggested. All the boys nodded.

"Story, Dada?" Bruce whispered.

"Sure, baby. Let's sit on the couch. Wanna listen to a story, Steve?"

"Mhmm, pwease," Steve nodded. "N' a bottle?"

"I'll make your bottle, Steve," Natasha said, walking to the kitchen.

"Steeb pick story too?" Bruce asked around his pacifier.

Steve nodded and picked one out of the pile of books, placing it on the couch between where Tony sat with Bruce and Bucky sat with him.

A few minutes later, the babies were nodding off thanks to their bottles of warm milk and Tony reading _One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish._

\---

"Unca Thor?" Steve asked.

"Yes, Steven?" Thor asked, softly. He learned early on that his normal, loud voice startles the babies, so he tries to speak quietly around them.

"Come see Unca Phil and Clinty wif us all?"

"Of course, sweet boy. I would love to come with you." Thor smiled. He reached down and lifted Steve, tossing him lightly in the air before catching him again. The baby giggled around the fingers he had stuffed in his mouth. He loves when Uncle Thor plays with him! It's so fun! Daddy can lift him, but can't (or maybe _won't_ ) throw him like this or run with him on his back. Playing with Uncle Thor can be scary sometimes, though, but he always knows when to stop and have quiet time.

"I'm going to make breakfast first," Natasha stated. "We'll bring it with us so Clint can eat with us."

"Wha' 'bout Unca Phil?" Steve asked, squirming in Thor's arms until he was placed on his feet.

"If his doctor says he can eat solid food, he can have some too. If not, one of the nurses will bring him something he can have. Do you wanna help me make pancakes, Steve?"

"Yah!" Steve grabbed his aunt's hand and dragged her to the kitchen. "Aunt Tasha, Daddy say we 'an make cookies n' take to Cwinty."

"He _did_ , did he?" Natasha asked, glancing at Bucky, who had told her this last night after the incident.

"Mhmm! Cookies?"

"I suppose so. Let's start on the cookie dough first, then we'll make the pancakes."

"Otay!"

\---

"Cwinty?" Steve asked when they walked into Phil's hospital room. "Where are you?"

Clint dropped down from his nest in the rafters, startling Steve and Bruce. "Sorry," he said, giving them both a hug and kiss. "Didn't mean to scare you."

"Miss you," Bruce said into Clint's chest.

"I miss you too. Lots n' lots."

"When you comin' home?" Steve whispered.

"When Daddy comes. Doctors say he's gettin' better. Maybe another two or three weeks?"

Natasha placed her hand on Clint's back and rubbed. "You hungry, buddy? We brought pancakes. And a special snack for later."

"Mhmm. Nurse Dolley said Daddy can start eatin' solid food again today." Clint shrugged his aunt's hand off of him and wriggled out of his cousins' hold to sit in his chair next to Phil's bed. He gently tapped his shoulder to wake him. "Daddy.... Eve'yone's here."

"Hmm?" Phil opened his eyes and looked around the room, smiling weakly at everyone. "Oh. Hi, everyone. How're you all doing?"

"We good, Unca Phil," Steve whispered. "Miss you."

"I miss you all too. I'll be home soon."

"Pancake?" Bruce asked. He was hiding in Tony's chest now, sucking on his pacifier. Uncle Phil doesn't look so good.... It's kind of scary. Pancakes will make it better, though, right? Pancakes make everything better!

"Sure. I'll have a couple."

Bucky placed the food on a table in the room while Thor placed the plates down. Together, the two of them got everyone's breakfast set up and handed out.

"Again, I deeply sorry for what my brother caused, Son of Coul," Thor apologized, quietly. "I am sorry to you too, young Clinton."

"S'okay," Clint shrugged, sitting gently on the bed next to his daddy. "S'not like you told him to do it, or-or wanted him to. You tried to stop 'im."

Phil nodded, agreeing with his little boy. "Yeah. It's okay, Thor. I'm going to be okay. New York is fine. Clint is working on getting better. It's not _your_ fault, so you don't need to apologize. _Loki_ on the other hand.... If I never see him again, it will be too soon."

"Agreed," everyone said, simultaneously.


	22. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A wild Loki appears.  
> Warnings: spanking, don't remember any others so let me know

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LADIES AND GENTLEMEN (here comes the trickster) THE MOMENT YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR (here comes the trickster) THE GUY WHO DESTROYED NEW YORK (here comes the trickster) LOKI LAUFEYSON  
> (in case you didn't know I'm obsessed with Hamilton and this is from a song in it :-P)   
> Anyway  
> so yeah, here's Loki (soon)  
> Clint and Loki meeting goes about as well as you would expect (as you will see later)  
> I don't really know what to say today bc I'm pissed (I forgot something in school and its due TOMORROW)   
> just a few more days of this hell and then I can write more ;-; (I have like one sentence of the next chapter written.. usually I have the entire next chapter or more done when I post..)  
> But anyway, enjoy this chapter and have a good day, I'm gonna eat myself into a food coma. see ya

"No. Absolutely not."

"Thor–"

"I said _no_ , Father! They are my friends. They have all _suffered_ terribly because of Loki. I will not make them see him again."

"Will you at least take him to Midgard to see how he would classified? I took away his powers. He can't do anything other than talk."

Thor crossed his arms, glaring at the All-father. "I will take him to get classified, but he is _not_ going to New York. He will _not_ be going anywhere near my friends. Ever."

"Okay. Just take him to get classified. Perhaps he can go into the system and someone will adopt him."

Thor ignored Odin and walked to the cell where his brother was. He still cares deeply for his brother, but he can't get over what he did to his friends. He will never get over it.

"Hello, brother," Loki greeted.

"Don't talk to me, Loki," Thor growled. "I'm taking you to Midgard to be classified."

"Classified?"

"Father has learned about Littles on Midgard. He wants to see if you're Little. If you are, you'll be going into the system to be adopted by someone. If not, you'll come back here."

"I'm not Little. I'll just stay here and save everyone the inconvenience of dealing with me to classify me."

"Too bad. You don't have a choice. Father wants me to take you. Now _come here._ " Thor stepped into the cell and grabbed his brother's arm roughly, taking him to Midgard.

\---

"He has been classified," Thor stated, gritting his teeth as he stood in front of his father.

"How?"

"He's Little. According to the nurses at the classification office. They said he is around 6 Midgardian years old."

Odin hummed, thoughtfully. "You are to be his caregiver," he decided.

"No, father. I told you I wouldn't be. I can't take him around my friends. He traumatized them all. He almost _killed_ two of them! I'm not going to force them to be around him, and I'm not going to abandon my friends to take care of my brother."

"That's understandable. I will talk to them. Come, Thor. We shall go to Midgard to talk to your friends."

Thor sighed. His father is stubborn. He's going to do everything he can to get Thor to take care of Loki and still be able to see his friends.

\---

"No. Absolutely not. Thor, no."

"I know, Clinton. I told my father I did not want to be Loki's caregiver. He is insisting."

"Loki cannot hurt any of you anymore. I took away his magic. All he has now is his wit. He _does_ know how to fight physically, but I have taken away most of his strength. The worst he can do is give you some small bruises."

"Not if he stabs someone with a freaking knife!" Steve yelled. "It's not that hard to force a knife through someone's eye, you know? And what if he does something to us while we're sleeping?"

"He won't. I promise you, young one–"

"I'm not Little right now."

"I apologize, Steven. Loki will not hurt any of you. He can't. Thor will strap him to his bed at night, and--"

"That's abuse."

"Bruce--" Steve started.

"No. That's abuse. You can't strap someone to a bed. Odin says Loki can't hurt us. I'll believe him. I don't particularly _want_ to see him ever again, but I would be willing to give him a chance. If he does anything--hurts someone, upsets someone, anything--I want him gone."

"I agree, Bruce," Natasha said. "I don't want to see him either, but I'll give him a chance. This should ultimately be Tony and Thor's decision, though. It's Tony's tower, and Thor's the one taking care of him."

All eyes turned toward the two men. Tony crossed his arms over his chest, protectively. "I don't want to. He hurt Phil. He scared the kids. _I_ almost died because of him. But...I will give him a chance. I agree with Bruce and Natasha, though. He does anything to hurt someone and he is _gone._ "

"Understood," Odin declined his head, then turned to his oldest son. "Thor?"

"No. I told you I don't want to take care of him. I don't want him around my friends."

"Son, he needs you. Nobody else will understand him or know how to take care of him. I know you don't want to, and I understand that, but he is still your brother. Your friends are willing to give him a chance. Why can't you?"

"Not all of them said they would give him a chance. If all of them agree to, then fine." Thor turned to his friends, expectantly. Bruce, Tony, and Natasha had already agreed to give Loki a chance, so they were sat on the couch together, watching everyone else.

"I'm not happy about it. I hate what he did, but I think everyone deserves a second chance," Bucky stated.

Steve curled up in on himself on the chair he was sat on. Bucky makes a point.... He was given a second chance too. And a third! Shouldn't Loki get that too? But at the same time...he hurt Uncle Phil and Tony. He scared Clinty. Brucie hates being the Hulk, and Loki made him Hulk out.

"I guess he deserves a second chance," Steve finally said, shrugging. "But I'm not happy about it, either! And I don't wanna play with him either!"

"We won't force you to, babe," Bucky promised, pulling Steve's back against his chest. Steve rested his head against Bucky's stomach, turning his head to watch his big cousin.

Clint looked down at Phil. At the bandage wrapped around his chest. He almost lost him. Because of Loki. What if...what if _he_ was the one that stabbed him? And no one told him? He doesn't remember much from being mind controlled and everything else is fuzzy. He wouldn't be surprised if he completely forgot doing something like this.

"I...I hate him. I never wanna see him again. He-he _ruined_ me. I'm afraid of everything n' I keep having nightmares and panic attacks. I can't even control my bladder anymore! I've lost control of myself. But...if Phil agrees. If he agrees to give him a chance, I will too."

Clint looked innocently at Phil's face. Phil had been very quiet since Odin showed up.

"You know I believe in second chances," he finally said, making Clint's heart drop down to his tummy. "Clint, I gave you a second chance when I found you at the circus. And we gave Natasha a second chance. And now look at you both! You're both so smart and brave and you've done so much good! I hate Loki because of what he did to you, Clint, but I think it's important to give him a second chance. You and Natasha weren't exactly easy to be around when we met, but I gave you a chance anyway, and I'm so glad that I did. Maybe it will be the same with Loki. I have one demand, though. Loki will speak to a therapist. At least twice a week until he's doing better and everyone is more comfortable around him and he's settled in."

"That sounds fair," Odin agreed. "I am very sorry for what my son did to all of you. I want him to do this, though, because I think it will help him. And it will give him a chance to apologize properly to all of you, eventually.

"Son of Coul, I understand you are still healing from what my son did to you, correct?" A nod from Phil. "I will have Thor bring you a salve from Asgard later that will help with the healing process. You will apply it once in the morning and once in the evening. You should be well enough to leave this healing room between two and three days."

"Thank you. Very much."

Odin nodded. "I will have Loki stay in Asgard for a week so you can go home to heal and settle."

Phil nodded at this and squeezed Clint's hand. "You okay, baby?"

"Yes," Clint lied.

\---

Clint opened his eyes in his own bed for the first time in a month. He didn't sleep last night. He's afraid. He always has nightmares, which he doesn't want to deal with right now. He's afraid of Loki coming today. Odin said Loki has no magic and he can't hurt him, but what if he lied?

He wants Daddy, but Daddy is still sleeping. Clint would usually sleep _with_ him when he's afraid like this, but he doesn't want to hurt him if he rolls on top of him by accident.

"Cwinty?" Steve whispered, knocking on the door.

"Mhmm?" Clint sat up in bed, hugging Esther and his blanket tightly. Neither of the two had left his side once in the last month. He even kept them in the bathroom with him while taking a bath, making sure they were right where he could see them.

Steve opened the door and walked inside, wearing just a diaper and a Mickey Mouse shirt. He walked over to his big cousin and sat on the bed with him. "You okay, Clinty?"

"Yeah," Clint whispered. "Hungry."

"Daddy's makin' breakfast. Unca Thor's bringin' Loki after breakfast. Wanna play?"

"Not really," Clint shrugged.

Steve frowned. "Wha' 'bout a story?"

"Okay. Want me to read to you?"

Steve nodded and settled into the bed with Bear and Bunny and his baby blanket. Clint crawled out of bed with his Nemo blanket wrapped around him to hide the fact that his diaper is sagging. He'll have to wait for Daddy to wake up to be changed. He grabbed a few books, then sat back next to his cousin and started reciting the books from memory, flipping the pages so Steve could see the pictures.

"Boys?" Natasha whispered in the doorway to Clint's room. "Breakfast is ready. Come eat."

"Okay, Aunt Tasha. Is Daddy up yet?"

"He's in the shower. Why? Do you need to be changed?"

Clint's cheeks were bright red as he nodded.

"Okay. I'll change you. Steve, go tell Daddy what you want to drink. Tell him to pour me more coffee too, please. And, Clint, what do you want?"

"Orange, please," Clint muttered, hiding his face in his aunt's chest.

"Tell Daddy that Clint wants orange juice."

"Otay." Steve kissed his cousin's cheek before waddling out to his daddy. He'll probably need to be changed too.

"Clint," Natasha whispered, hugging the boy tightly. "How long have you been wet?"

Clint shrugged. It was still dark outside when he noticed his diaper was wet. "While."

"You know you don't have to just sit in it and wait for someone to decide to change you, right? You can come to ask someone to change you. Bucky and I don't mind being woken up. We wake up with Steve a lot, anyway. Tony gets woken up because of Bruce, too. And I know Daddy wouldn't mind you waking him up. He never did before, did he?"

"No.... But he's hurt now, Aunt Tasha. Can't wake him when he's hurt."

"Sure you can. I just did. And you know what?" Clint shrugged his shoulders. "He wanted to come check on you as soon as he woke up, but I told him not to; you had Steve with you and you were fine. Daddy needed to take a shower because he was a bit smelly." Natasha whispered the last part, making Clint smile weakly. "There's my smiley boy! Come on, Clinty. Let's change your diaper."

Clint kept quiet at breakfast. He greeted his cousins and uncles quietly, giving his daddy a kiss when he finally sat down, then focused intensely on his waffles and eggs.

He barely ate half of his breakfast before claiming he was full. Everyone else finished all their food. Even Steve, who, just a few months ago would only eat a few bites of food before announcing that he was done.

"Bug, come with me for a minute," Phil commanded after the table was cleared.

Clint stood off of his chair and followed his daddy to his bedroom. Phil sat in the rocking chair and pulled Clint onto his lap, being careful of his chest. Clint rested his head against Phil's shoulder, bringing his thumb up to his mouth. He only sucks his thumb when he's really little and sleepy, scared, or upset about something. He's checked off 'all of the above' for how he would describe himself right now.

"How are you feeling, bug? Really, be honest with me."

"Not good, Daddy," Clint whispered around his thumb. "Didn't sleep las' night n' I'm really scared...."

"Because of Loki?" Clint nodded in reply. "I don't want him, Daddy. He hurt you really bad n' he almost made Uncle Tony die, n' he t-tr-trammer-tized me. Scared. I-I didn't want you to agree, Daddy, but I understand why you did...."

"Oh, baby.... Daddy's sorry. I know he traumatized you, but I think it will be good for both of you if he came here. I really do. I texted Cassie when Thor and Odin came to see what she thought and she agreed with me."

"'S that why you was so quiet, Daddy?"

Phil chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, bug. You know you can come wake me up whenever you want, right? For a diaper, a drink, a nightmare, a cuddle.... Anything. I don't mind, you know that. I _want_ you to come to me if you need something."

"Okay, Daddy.... I will. Promise."

"Good." Phil pressed a kiss to Clint's forehead, then sighed. "Thor and Loki should be here in a minute. Do you wanna go see them or would you rather stay in here? We could go to your personal floor too, if you want."

"No. It's okay, Daddy. I'll be brave and go meet Loki. Gotta protect my babies, too."

"Alright, bug." Phil kissed Clint's cheek and gently pushed him off of his lap. He stood and took his little boy's hand, leading him out to the playroom where everyone else was sitting.

Bucky patted his lap, looking at Clint. Clint hugged Esther and his blanket tightly and gave Phil a giant kiss before walking to his uncle and sitting on his lap with Steve.

"Cwinty otay?" Steve whispered, holding his hand on Clint's knee.

Clint nodded. "Yeah. I'm okay, Stevie."

The elevator door opened then and Thor walked out with Loki behind him. As soon as Clint saw Loki, he was off of Bucky's lap and was pouncing on him, punching and kicking and biting him. Loki screamed, but didn't fight back.

"Clint! Clint, calm down!" Someone yelled.

Clint ignored them to continue beating Loki. "I hate you!" He cried. "I hate you, I hate you, I hate you! You ruined all of us! You almost killed two of us! You're a fucking asshole, piece of shit! I hate you!"

"Clint!" Clint felt hands under his armpits and he was lifted off of Loki. He was carried away, back to the couch and dropped on Phil's lap, who wrapped his arms around his waist tightly.

"Clinty, calm down, baby. It's okay." Phil whispered. He rubbed a soothing hand against Clint's side.

Clint squeezed his eyes shut and focused on his daddy's touch. He knows he has to calm down. He knows he was bad for attacking Loki and saying bad words. He knows he'll get punished for it, but he actually feels better now that he got some of his anger out.

Clint calmed down after a few minutes, pressing his face into Daddy's shoulder and crying.

"It's okay, bug," Phil whispered. "Come on, let's go to your room and have a little talk."

Clint whimpered as he stood off of Phil's lap and looked around the room. Steve and Bruce are pressed into their daddys' chests and are looking at him with an expression that's a cross between fear and worry. Bucky and Tony are both worried. Loki is cuddled in Thor's chest, looking terrified and is crying. Thor just looks confused and a bit worried. Natasha is worried and disappointed, though nobody besides Clint would be able to tell. Clint is the only one that can read Natasha's facial expressions.

A warm hand was placed on Clint's shoulder and he was led into his room.

"I'm sorry, Daddy!" He launched into an apology the second the door closed. "I shouldn't have done that. It was naughty. N' I know this is bad, but I'm happy I did it! I don't like hurtin' people, but I feeled better affer I did that! I won't do it again, Daddy, I promise!"

Phil held up a hand to silence Clint. "It's okay, bug. I know you won't do it again. I'm happy that you felt better, but I wish you had done something else to feel better. Hitting is never okay, and you know that. Neither is cursing."

"I'm sorry," Clint whispered, hugging Esther tightly as he felt tears well up in his eyes.

"I know, bug. You're going to get a spanking--15. After that, I want you to apologize to Loki and to your little cousins for scaring them. Does that sound like something you can do?"

"Yes, Daddy." Clint took a deep breath and stood in front of where Phil had sat on his bed. "C'n I keep Esther while you do it?"

"Of course, bug." Phil reached forward and removed Clint's diaper before pulling him to lay across his lap. Clint hugged Esther tightly and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out his spanking even though he knew he shouldn't do that. He should pay attention so he remembers what will happen if he does this again, but he already knows he won't do it again, so he doesn't want to!

"I'm sorry, Daddy!" He sobbed after his spanking was done. Even though it was only 15, and it didn't hurt that much, he's upset that he did something to warrant a spanking. He hates being naughty!

"I know." Phil pulled Clint up onto his lap and hugged him tightly. "It's okay now, Clinty." He rocked his baby boy until he had stopped crying and was sucking his thumb, calmly. "Do you wanna put some pajamas on?"

Clint furrowed his brow and sucked harder on his thumb. "Buh it's mornin', Daddy," he pointed out. Daddy always makes him change his clothes for the day unless he's sick or just came home from a mission and will probably fall asleep again. Neither of those things are applicable to his current situation.

"I know, but I think we'll all have a lazy day in our jammies. Sound good?" Clint hummed around his thumb and nodded. "You'll have to change your pajamas, though, because you have some syrup on your shirt. Right there." Phil placed his index finger on Clint's shirt to point out a spot of syrup. When Clint looked down at it, Phil brushed his finger up and bopped his nose, making Clint giggle and pout.

" _Daddy,_ " he whined through his giggles.

"Ah, I'm sorry, baby," Phil chuckled, squeezing his baby again. He hid his wince in Clint's hair when the boy leaned too hard against his chest. "Let's get you changed. Wanna pick your pajamas?"

"Mhmm!" Clint tugged his shirt off and threw it in his laundry basket in the corner before kneeling naked in front of his dresser. He pulled the drawer open and eventually pulled out his monkey pajamas and his dragon pajamas.

"You wanna wear both of these, bug?" Phil asked, confused.

"No, Daddy. For Loki." He pointed at the dragon pajamas. "Uncle Tony didn't buyed him none a'cause he didn't know what he likes, n' I dunno if Uncle Thor got 'im anythin' 'cause he doesn't even like him!"

" _Oh,_ " Phil said. "Good thinking, Clinty. That's very generous of you to offer Loki your dragon pajamas."

"Mhmm! 'Cept I dunno if they'll fit 'im 'cause he's taller n' me."

"I'm sure he'll be fine. He's only a few inches taller than you and he's really thin. Now let's get you in a diaper and your pajamas."

"Okay, Daddy." Clint climbed onto the new changing table in his room and laid down while Phil put a diaper and powder on him. Next, he slid off the table and was dressed up in his "Daddy's little monkey" pajamas. He even put some monkey slippers on!

Clint wrapped his blanket around his shoulders like a cape and hugged Esther tightly as he held Phil's hand and shuffled out into the play room. Tasha, Bucky, and the babies were all wearing new pajamas. Tasha and Bucky wore matching panda pajamas. Steve wore Mickey Mouse pajamas and Bruce was wearing Iron Man pajamas. Tony, Thor, Phil, and Loki were still wearing regular clothes.

Clint tugged on Phil's sleeve and reached for the dragon pajamas. Phil handed them over and gently patted Clint's butt to encourage him to go over to where Loki was still hiding in Thor's chest. "L-Loki?" He asked, shakily. "I-I'm sorry I beat you up n'-n' yelled at you afore.... I won't do it again. I promise. N' I'm sorry to everyone else for actin' like that. I shouldn'ta n' I won't do it ever again."

"It's otay, Clinty!" Steve and Bruce shouted in unison, running over and hugging their big cousin tightly.

Loki winced at the loud voices and pressed himself farther into Thor's chest, but was pulled out and turned to look at Clint. He started shaking against Thor's chest and gulped. He doesn't want this. He doesn't wanna be here and he doesn't want to be Little. He'd rather be back on Asgard in his cell! But he can't go back. He has to stay here. And he might as well try to get used to these people if he's going to be here for a while.

"It's okay," Loki finally whispered. "I'm sorry too. To all of you. I-I know a simple apology won't make up for anything, but I want you to know I am genuinely sorry." Loki knows he can't say more than that. He'll just be called a liar, which isn't fun. He's the god of _mischief_ , not _lies_. Sometimes he lies, but he never likes doing it. It makes him feel guilty!

"We'll work on forgiving you, little man," Tony said, ruffling Loki's long hair and making him whine.

"Um," Clint said, shifting from foot to foot. "We're all gonna have a pajama day n' I dunno if you have your own, so I bringed you some of mine to wear. There's dragons on 'em! See?"

"Yeah," Loki whispered, smiling slightly. "I see. Thank you, very much, Clint."

Clint smiled proudly as Loki took the pajamas and he ran back to Daddy, pressing his face in his side.

"Let's get you changed, Loki," Thor said, grabbing Loki's arm harder than he would any of the other kids.

"You gotta wear jammies too, Uncle Thor! And Uncle Tony and Daddy!"

"You're right, Clint; we do," Tony said. "How about you and your little cousins pick some movies to watch and get some toys out while we all go change?"

Clint nodded and crouched next to Bruce, holding his hand when he started to whine. Bruce hates being away from Tony, even if it's just for a minute. He always has, but it's 100 times worse now after the battle of New York. The cause of that battle is here now, which Clint doesn't really like. He's trying hard to give him a chance, though, because he knows Daddy wants him to.

"Wanna watch Mickey?" Clint whispered to his cousins. They both nodded, cuddling into either side of him. "Okay. Uncle Bucky, c'n you put Mickey on, please?"

"Sure," Bucky answered. "What do you wanna watch after that, though, Clinty?"

Clint shrugged. "More Mickey."

Bucky frowned and crouched in front of his nephew. "Clint, you can pick something to watch too. You don't have to just watch Mickey Mouse for your cousins. Didn't you wanna start watching Steven Universe?"

"Well, yeah, but I want to. My cousins like Mickey and they're just babies and they're scared, so I wanna make them happy."

"Alright," Bucky finally agreed. "You're a sweet boy." He forward and pressed a kiss against Clint's forehead, making the boy smile.

"I know, Uncle Bucky! Miss Maria says I'm sweet like sugar!"

Bucky laughed at that. "She's right. You are. Sweet enough to eat!" He lunged forward and started 'eating' Clint's face, which made him laugh and squirm.

"Stevie! Brucie! Aunt Tasha!" He squealed. "Help!"

"Get off my big cousin, eviw panda!" Steve commanded, pushing at his daddy's arm. "You a panda, no can eat Cwinty! You gotta eat b'mboo!"

Bucky laughed at his baby and sat back on his feet.

"Alright, boys. Let's watch some Mickey Mouse."

 


	23. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Talk of mind control incoming. (I looked up info about Loki being mind controlled but I'm too lazy to go find it and put in here oops sorry)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eyo. I don't remember this chapter at all, hope it doesn't suck.  
> In other news, I'm on summer vacation now ^^ I shall return to school in September as a junior (god I'm old)  
> I plan on maybe getting a job, hopefully writing a lot (so far it's not looking so hot) and listening to musicals (which I have become obsessed with... I'm listening to "Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812" rn)  
> I have ideas for the next few chapters but no idea how to start them.. I'm not sure how much longer this is going to be tbh... if anyone wants to help me write, hmu on tumblr (azbear1.tumblr.com)   
> k bye, have a spectacular day

Five days passed with Loki in the tower. None of the kids have played with him or paid him much attention yet, but he didn't care. He's just been sitting in a corner, trying to keep out of everyone's way. It's been working so far. Nobody even acknowledges him unless it's to tell him to eat or go to bed.

Loki hasn't been in his headspace yet, which the adults aren't particularly happy about; he's supposed to be Little at least 120 hours a week (a full 48 hours longer than any other Little). Everyone agreed that if Loki isn't Little by the 7 day mark, they'll have him be seen by a doctor so he can get a special injection to help him into his headspace.

\---

Loki tossed and turned in his tiny rocket ship bed. He's been awake for the last three hours, unable to sleep. He's afraid. What if the Chitauri come back? Loki knows they're still looking for him. What if they come to get him (or kill him?) and they destroy New York again and hurt the Avengers? Contrary to popular belief, Loki doesn't hate them; they've been pretty nice to him so far, except for the one incident with Clint, but he apologized. If the Chitauri came back he would be blamed for everything. He would surely be sentenced to death. He doesn't wanna die!

Loki jumped when his bedroom door opened. He relaxed a bit when he saw it was just Bruce that walked in--he has to keep his guard up around this boy, though incase he decides to Hulk out.

"What are you doing here, Bruce?" Loki questioned.

"You otay?" Bruce whispered, waddling over to the bed and sitting on the floor.

"Yes. I'm fine. Why are you awake? Where's your daddy?"

"Dada makin' us all warm milk! Hadda nightmare.... Then hear you movin' in bed lots.... Loki have'a nightmare too?"

"Something like that," Loki sighed.

"Wanna talk?"

Loki smiled weakly. Bruce is quite sweet. "You wouldn't believe me. Nobody ever believes a God of Mischief."

"I will! But you no gotta tell me if you no wan'.... Me n' cousins got you a pwesent."

"A present?" Loki asked, confused. Why would someone get him a present? Much less the Avengers. He doesn't deserve any presents.

"Yah! C'mon!" Bruce shakily stood up and held his hand out to Loki. Loki stared at the hand for a minute before taking hold of it and following the baby out to the playroom. "Stay here." Bruce pointed at the couch and waited for Loki to sit before he ran to the kitchen.

Loki pulled his legs up to his chest and chewed on a lock of his hair, nervously. _Chitauri.... They're looking for me. What if they come tonight? I have no powers to fight them off. Not that I was able to fight them off last time...._

Loki was pulled out of his thoughts by a small box being dropped on his lap.

He looked up to see Tony holding Bruce on his hip. There was a bottle in Bruce's mouth and a small cup with cartoon characters in Tony's free hand.

"Do you want some warm milk, Loki?" Tony asked.

"I-yes please." Loki took the proffered cup and took a small sip at first, deciding whether or not he liked it. He eventually decided that yes, he likes the warm milk, and he leaned back against the couch with the straw in his mouth. "Thank you," he added to Tony, who just nodded and sat in a chair with Bruce on his lap.

"Open pwesent!" Bruce demanded around his bottle.

Loki placed his cup on the side table and gently picked up the small box. It wasn't wrapped, but it had some beautifully drawn animals on the cardboard.

Loki opened the box and pulled out a white teddy bear, just barely bigger than one of his hands. The teddy's fur was so soft; it was as if he was petting a sheep. There was a cute green ribbon tied around the bear's neck and a smile stitched onto his face.

"You like it?" Bruce asked.

"Yes, I do. Thank you, Bruce," Loki said, hugging the bear to his chest. "I love it."

"What are you going to name it?" Tony asked softly.

"Sleipnir."

"That's a nice name."

Loki nodded and curled into a corner of the couch with his new teddy bear and his milk. It wasn't long before he was asleep, snoring softly with his thumb in his mouth.

\---

"I don't wanna!"

"Clint--"

"No! I hate 'im! I'm lettin' him stay in my home; isn't that 'nough?"

"It's a lot, Clint. You're being very brave and we're all very proud of you. He hasn't hurt you yet, has he? In a week? Do you think you could give him a chance and play with him a bit?"

"I already _gived_ him a chance, Cassie. I don't wanna play with him."

There was a sigh. "Okay, Clint. Nobody's going to force you. Have you written any more of your experiences?"

Clint nodded and handed over his tablet.

\---

Steve was sat on the floor behind the couch, leaning against Bear half asleep. He was surprised to learn he could still go on missions for S.H.I.E.L.D., but he just went on a four-day long one and only got back this morning. He's tired. He didn't sleep for the entire duration of the mission.

He's waiting for Clint to come home from speaking with his therapist. Clint didn't want him to go on the mission. He claimed it was because he didn't want his baby cousin to get hurt or scared, but everyone knows Clint is really afraid that if someone leaves they won't come back. No matter how much anyone told him that would never happen, he's still afraid.

Steve has seen Tori twice a week since the battle of New York, and she says that he's doing remarkably well considering what he's gone through now. She said he's been coping good, even though Steve doesn't think he's actually been doing anything different.

Steve was nearly asleep when he heard the elevator doors open and he jumped. "Cwinty?"

"Steve?"

Steve suddenly had a chest full of older cousin and giggled, squeezing him tightly. "Missed you, Cwinty."

"Missed you!" Clint sniffed. "No more leavin'."

"I come back. Promise. 'Nother mission two weeks."

Clint looked at his little cousin with sad eyes. "But what if something happens and you don't come home?"

"I will, Cwinty. Promise. I be careful." Clint buried his face in his cousin's chest. "Love you."

"I love you too, Stevie!"

"Cake? Aunt Tasha say she help us make it."

"Okay," Clint smiled. "Chocolate cake?"

"Yah!"

\---

"Bruce?"

The man startled and turned around, blinking when he saw two Asgardians in his lab. "Hi, Loki. Hi, Thor. Is everything alright?"

"Aye," Thor answered. "Loki wishes to speak with you; I hope it's alright that I brought him down here? I would have asked first, but--"

"It's fine," Bruce insisted. "If I didn't want anyone to come down here I would have had JARVIS lock the door. I've gained back that right." Since the time he ran away shortly after being classified, he hasn't been allowed to lock any doors, even when he's big, but Tony just rewarded him with that right this morning because he's been behaving lately.

"Congratulations, Bruce. I hope you won't lock yourself away for extended periods of time, though."

"Of course not. I'd miss you all too much." He's grown very close to all the Avengers in just a few months of being Little.

Thor opened his mouth to talk again, but was interrupted by a small whimper from Loki.

"What did you wanna talk to me about, Loki?" Bruce asked. He smiled as he noticed Loki holding Sleipnir.

"...Could we talk alone?" Loki asked.

"No," Thor said before Bruce could talk. "I don't want you alone around any of the Littles here, even when they're in their older mindset. Especially not down here in Bruce's lab--I don't trust you not to try hurting him with something. That wouldn't end well for either of you."

Loki cringed at that. It hurt to hear his older brother say he doesn't trust him. He doesn't exactly blame him for not trusting him, but it hurt nonetheless.

Bruce noticed Loki cringe and could only imagine what was going through his head. Loki hasn't been bad since he moved in. True, he hasn't actually done much of anything, and he could just be luring them into a false sense of security, but for some reason Bruce doubts that.

"Let's compromise," he suggested. "Thor will stay in here and sit against the wall with headphones in, so he can see us, but not hear what we're talking about. Does that sound good?"

"Yes," Loki whispered, holding tightly to his teddy bear.

Bruce allowed him to sit on a stool while he led Thor over to the wall and gave him his old iPod and headphones. Returning to Loki, he sat across from the boy and saved all the work he had been doing before.

"Alright. What's on your mind?" He asked, giving Loki his full attention.

"Well...remember last night when you gave me Sleipnir? But first you came to my room and asked if I wanted to talk. I said you wouldn't believe me, but you insisted that you would."

Bruce nodded. "I don't tend to remember much from when I was Little, especially if I was or am tired, but I remember that. And I assure you I will do my best to believe you. I want to believe you, Loki. I really do."

Loki took a deep, shuddery breath. "New York...wasn't my fault. I mean...I guess it was? But I didn't want to do it! I _swear_ to you, Bruce!"

Bruce furrowed his brow. "What? Explain, please."

"The Chitauri.... I swear it was them. They mind controlled me! I--about a year ago, they kidnapped me. They tortured me. With fire, knives, so much more.... It was awful. And finally, they took over my mind to force me to do their bidding.... I think that hurt most. Worse than the fire."

Bruce placed a tissue box on Loki's lap when he noticed the trickster sniffling. Loki stared at a spot on the floor, ignoring the small tears that slipped out of his eyes.

"It hurt, Bruce. It felt like...like a million little pinpricks inside my brain...like a child stuck their hands into my brain and just started squishing everything around.... It was awful! I didn't want to do anything I did, I swear! I didn't want to hurt Clint or Phil or Tony or you or-or anyone! I didn't!"

Bruce quickly stood up and moved over to the crying trickster when he started shaking violently. He draped a blanket across his shoulders before wrapping him up in a hug. Hugs won't necessarily fix anything, but hopefully they'll calm Loki down some.

"It didn't stop till-till Hulk swung me like that and hit me against the floor.... But it still hurt. It hurts even now. It's been _agonizing_ , Bruce.... Has Clint been like this too?"

Bruce swallowed. He doesn't want to lie, but he also doesn't want to upset Loki with the truth.... "Yes," he finally said. "I don't think he's been as bad as you because he wasn't under mind control as long as you, but it hurts him, and he's scared of-of everything."

"I'm so sorry," Loki finally broke down sobbing in Bruce's arms. "So sorry. So sorry. I should've fought harder against the Chitauri. I should've--"

"Loki," Bruce interrupted. "It wasn't your fault. You were _forced_ to do that. You tried to fight against them, but there were so many of them, and it was hard."

"I'm sorry," Loki repeated again, still sobbing.

Bruce let Loki cry, gently rubbing his back and whispering to him until he calmed down.

"Surely you don't actually believe this act, Bruce?" Thor asked, pulling the headphones out of his ears. "He is a God of Mischief!"

"Yes, Thor. A God of _mischief_ , not _lies_. Loki hasn't given me any reason not to believe him. He's never lied to me. I can just about always tell when someone's telling a lie, and I really don't think Loki's lying."

Thor rolled his eyes and grabbed Loki's wrist tightly. "We can discuss this another time, Bruce; Loki has to go speak with his therapist now." He tugged on his brother's skinny wrist, making him slip off the stool and almost fall.

"Hey!" Bruce scolded. "Let go of him!"

Thor looked confused, but did so.

"What is your problem, Thor? You've been so rough with Loki! You would never act like that with my cousins and I!"

"Of course not, because you are--"

"What? Babies? Mortals? I'm not a baby right now, am I? And Steve isn't exactly mortal; he's got super soldier serum. Your father took away Loki's powers, so he's just as much a mortal as me and Clint!"

"Bruce--"

" _Not. Done._ " Bruce gritted his teeth, staring up at Thor. "Look. I get that you're worried about us all getting hurt or something. I understand that. But that gives you _no right_ to treat Loki so rough! Sure, Odin shouldn't have just forced this responsibility on you, but that doesn't mean you should act like a brat because you have to do something you don't want to! _I_ don't even act this bad, and I'm _one!_ Everyone here is trying to give Loki a chance; why can't you? Why do you have to bully him because you don't want to be his caregiver?"

They all stood in silence for a minute, save for occasional sniffles from Loki. They were all surprised by Bruce's outburst. Loki even thought he saw a hint of green in Bruce's eyes, but he couldn't be sure; the green disappeared when he saw Loki out of the corner of his eye.

Thor swallowed thickly. Bruce's words weighed heavily on him. "We really have to go now or we're going to be late," he whispered.

Bruce rolled his eyes. "Fine. Whatever. Loki, come talk to me whenever you need to, okay? Maybe we can play with some legos or make cookies with Natasha later."

"Okay," Loki whispered. "Thank you, Bruce. For everything."

Bruce nodded and gently squeezed the trickster's shoulder before sitting back on his stool at his desk.

Thor cautiously put his hand out towards Loki, waiting to see if he would take it. He didn't. Loki looked at the large hand for a moment before scurrying over to the elevator, holding onto Sleipnir as tight as he could.

\---

"Brucie?"

Bruce was torn away from his work again, but this time he didn't see anyone standing in his lab.

He did, however, hear a loud thump as someone jumped out of the vents behind him.

"Clint!" He scolded, holding a hand over his heart. "Don't do that! You scared me!"

"Sorry...." Clint hugged Esther and wrapped his blanket tighter around himself.

"Why were you in the vents anyway? You know you're not allowed in there."

"I missed my baby. I wanted to see you. But the elevator is boring n' I wanted to be alone. Steve said I could go this way...."

"Steve isn't your daddy or at least an uncle or aunt."

"Sorry...."

Bruce sighed and pulled his cousin in for a tight hug. "It's okay, Clinty. I missed you too."

Clint hummed. "Was...was Loki n' Uncle Thor just in here?"

"Yes, they were.... Did you hear all of what we talked about?" Clint nodded. "And what do you think? Was he telling the truth?"

Clint nodded again, slowly. "He never lied yet; no reason not to believe he's tellin' the truth.... I-I didn't know he was being controlled too.... I thinked he was just evil n' wanted power...."

"That's understandable. You thought because he put you under his control, it was all because he wanted to. It makes sense that you would think that."

Clint bit his lip. "Gonna give him a chance," he finally said, decisively. "Play with us when he come back, Brucie?"

"Sure, Clint. JARVIS will let me know when he gets back and I'll come play with you."

"Kay. Gonna go see Daddy now. Come to the elevator?"

"Sure."

\---

Clint cuddled with his daddy while Steve napped. He told Daddy that he was going to try to play with Loki today, but didn't tell him what changed in the few hours since he had said he didn't want to play with him.

After nearly 2 hours, Thor and Loki were back. Loki was clearly Little. Clint could tell by his glossy eyes and the way he hugged his teddy bear and sucked this thumb. Loki sat in his normal corner while Thor went to the kitchen, probably to finish the cake. Clint plans on playing with Loki, but not alone. He's waiting for Brucie.

A few minutes later, Tony came up with Bruce on his hip.

"Cwint!" Bruce reached for his older cousin.

"Hi, Brucie!" Clint stood and walked over to his baby cousin, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "Play?"

"Bruce has to get a diaper and clothes on first," Tony explained. "Why don't you try to go potty meanwhile?"

"Okay, Uncle Tony." Clint ran to the bathroom to go potty. When he finished, he went to Bruce's room to see him squirming around on the changing table.

"I know, Bruce," Tony whispered. "You're cranky. You can't stay down in your lab for 10 hours or more.... You know that." Tony gently swatted the baby's bottom before finally taping a diaper around his waist.

"Cwinty!" Bruce cooed, reaching for his cousin.

"Hi, Brucie." Clint walked over and nuzzled his nose against the baby's cheek.

"Did you go potty, Clint?" Tony asked as he maneuvered Bruce into a Mickey Mouse shirt and matching shorts. Clint simply nodded. "And did wash your hands?"

"Mhmm! They smell nice, see?" Clint shoved his hands under Tony's nose so he could smell the eucalyptus soap they have.

"Yes, Clint, I see."

"Uncle Tony? Do we have any board games Brucie can play?"

Tony thought for a minute. He doesn't want Bruce to swallow any little pieces again. He knows nobody else wants that either.

"How about _Hedbanz_? It's not exactly a board game, but it's fun."

"Okay! Brucie, wanna play that? Or take a nap now and play it later?"

"No naps," Tony interrupted. "He should've taken a nap when Steve did, but now it's too late. Bruce won't sleep tonight if he naps now."

"Okay. Well, do you wanna play, Brucie?"

Bruce nodded and reached for Clint again, giggling when he was picked up and put on the floor. He toddled over to his crib and took Dex out before following Clint out to the play room where Loki was still in the corner, clutching his teddy bear tightly. Steve was on Bucky's lap at the couch, drinking a bottle.

Clint gulped and led Bruce over to Loki, who looked up afraid when he saw the two of them looming over him. "D-d'you wanna play with us?" Clint asked. Loki shrugged. Clint blinked slowly. He didn't think about Loki not wanting to play with him. He can understand why he wouldn't want to, but he still thought Loki might want to at least give playing a chance.

"Okay," Loki finally agreed. "What're we gonna play?"

" _Hedbanz._ Uncle Tony's lookin' for it."

"I don't know that game," Loki admitted.

"Oh! Well, it's fun! D'you know what headbands are?" Loki nodded. "Well, we wear those n' put cards with pictures in 'em, then we gotta guess what the picture on our head is! But-but you gotta ask for clues to figure it out like a investator! N' the other people can only say yes or no."

"Okay. I think I understand...."

Clint hummed. "We can't play board games 'cause Brucie ate a piece of one once. He's just a baby, so he didn't know better."

Loki frowned. For some reason he can't imagine Bruce eating random things like board game pieces....

"Here it is!" Tony said, placing the box on the coffee table.

Clint held Bruce's hand as they walked over to the coffee table, Loki following about 5 feet behind them.

"Stevie, do you wanna play too?" Clint asked, sitting down on the floor at the table.

Steve glanced at Loki sitting at the furthest edge and shook his head no, curling closer to Bucky.

"Oh.... Okay. Well you can join next round if you change your mind!"

Steve hummed and grabbed Bear off the floor, hugging him tightly.

Clint placed Esther on his lap and pulled the box open. "You wanna play, Uncle Tony?"

"Sure, kiddo. Scoot over."

Clint moved a bit closer to Loki so Tony could sit down. Loki's eyes widened slightly and he hugged his teddy tighter.

"Want me to show you how'ta put your headband and card on?" Clint asked, looking to Loki. Tony was already helping Bruce and Steve doesn't want to play, so Clint can't help either of them, but Loki doesn't seem to know what he's supposed to do.

"O-okay.... Yes, please."

Clint walked over to Loki on his knees, holding two headbands. He handed one to Loki and kept the other for himself.

"So you hold it like this n' just put it on like a crown, see?" Clint demonstrated. He smiled when Loki did the same as him and got the headband on. "N' then you grab a card, but don't look at it! N' you put it in the slot like this. And don't say what anyone else is! Uncle Tony'll go first to show you how to play."

Loki nodded and hugged Sleipnir tightly, though his shoulders seemed more lax.

Tony turned to the boys so they could see what he was: a strawberry.

"Okay," Tony clapped. "Am I...am object?"

Bruce shook his head no.

"Am I food?"

"Yeah! You're food!" Clint exclaimed.

"Okay. Loki, am I...a fruit?" Loki nodded. "Am I a blueberry?"

No from Bruce.

"Banana?"

No from Clint.

"Strawberry?"

Loki quickly nodded his head. "Yeah. I'm allergic to strawberries."

"Really?" Clint asked. "But Uncle Thor's not allergic to nothin'. I thinked all As-Asgar-gards aren't allergic?"

"They're not, but I'm not really an Asgardian. And I'm a mortal now, anyway. If Thor was mortal, he'd be allergic to almonds and cats."

"Really?"

Loki nodded. "Not all, but most Asgardians have some type of allergy when they don't have their powers."

"Oh! I'm allergic to sell-fish."

"Shellfish, Clint," Phil corrected.

"Yeah! I get hibes n' can't breathe. It's scary."

"That happens to me too. It is scary."

Clint hummed. "Your turn, Loki!"

The four of them played the game for about an hour and a half before moving on to playing with Legos. Loki was actually a lot of fun, and he helped them build a lot of cool creatures from Asgard! Steve never joined them, though. Clint will make sure to talk to him about it soon. He's worried about his little cousin.


	24. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: mentions of suicide attempts, PTSD, spanking  
> (Let me know if you need me to add any others and I will ASAP)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHEEEEE ITS ABOUT DAMN TIME THERES ANOTHER CHAPTER SHIT MAN   
> I hope you enjoy this, I actually tried to make this somewhat good. New chapter in??? Idk, imma work on the next one now though so hopefully soon

Loki had been living in the tower for three weeks. He spent most of his time with Bruce, regardless of either of their mental ages. Loki eventually fell properly into his headspace after Clint started playing with him, and he became very shy and would cling to Sleipnir while glancing at Steve and Bucky with a look that might have been jealously.

Thor stayed quiet and mostly kept his distance from his younger brother. After Bruce called him out that day for rough handling Loki, he started to feel guilty and realize that he was wrong for treating his brother that way. However, he couldn't bring himself to apologize to Loki for whatever reason, so he just stayed away from him instead, keeping an eye on him, but letting him do his own thing. The only time he even spoke to Loki was to tell him to take a bath or go to bed. (Thor didn't help Loki in the bath, though, certain that he could do it himself.)

Clint and Bruce continued playing with Loki nearly everyday. The three boys quickly grew closer. Clint and Loki were still slightly wary of one another, but each day that wariness dissipated.

Steve, however....

Steve seemed very cranky almost all the time, and he even seemed sort of depressed. He wouldn't talk to anyone when they tried, though. He either ignored them or told them he's fine. Clint doesn't believe him one bit. He's going to see if one of the therapists at group can get him to say something to them today.

\---

"I'm not sure it's a good idea," Thor stated. "The other Littles will likely know who he is and might be scared. And what if Loki causes some kind of trouble and I can't be there to stop him?"

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Bucky shrugged. "Natasha and I will be there if something does happen. Any Little is allowed in there, though, who's been in some type of war, been in the army, or has done field work for S.H.I.E.L.D. Any Little who has PTSD, really, which Loki definitely has. I think it'll be good for him; I think he'll have fun. Steve and Clint do. They love group!"

Thor thought for a moment, stroking his beard. Bucky's noticed that it seems to be a nervous habit, like Natasha's tendency to bite her nails, or Tony fiddling with any piece of machine or tool.

"Fine," Thor finally agreed. "But if something happens, let me know. I don't want him to cause any problems."

"Sure thing. Stevie, can you go check on Uncle Phil and Clinty, then go ask Aunt Tasha to change you and get you dressed?"

Steve nodded and stood up from where he was playing blocks with Bruce, waddling to his older cousin's room.

Bucky walked over to Loki, who was curled up in a ball behind the couch, half asleep. Bucky suspects he hasn't been sleeping well, but Thor won't do anything about it.

"Hey, Loki.... Wanna go out somewhere with me, Steve, and Clint? You'll play lots of games, make new friends, and have a lot of fun!"

Loki simply shrugged, tensing up and hugging Sleipnir tightly. He remembers Bucky trying to shoot him during the battle of New York. He knows he probably won't try that again, but you never know....

"Is Bruce coming?" Loki whispered after a minute.

"I don't think so. Bruce doesn't like big groups like that--it's only about 20 or 25 people, but still too much for Bruce. He's not comfortable with that."

"Actually," Bruce interrupted, sounding halfway big, "I was thinkin' maybe I might try one day.... Today's as good as any, right?" He _has_ been thinking about joining his cousins in group, but never really considered actually going through with it. He knows that it would probably be good for Loki, but Loki won't go without him. So he'll try for Loki.

"Oh! Okay, Bruce. Yeah, if you're sure, you should totally come. Why don't you go ask Tony to help you change?"

Bruce nodded, more for Loki than Bucky, then stood on shaky legs and toddled over to Tony, who scooped him up onto his hip.

"So, what do you say, Loki? Wanna give it a shot?"

"Okay," Loki finally agreed, softly.

"That'a boy! Come on; how 'bout I help you get ready?"

Loki nodded and followed Bucky to the bathroom, still holding Sleipnir as tightly as he could.

"Sleipnir can come too, right?" Loki asked as he was stripped down to the pull-up Thor insists he wear. He's only had a few (three) daytime accidents, but Thor doesn't want to take any chances when he's out, thus the pull-up.

"Of course he can."

Loki hummed and hugged his bear again, kissing its nose before he set it on the counter while he used the toilet.

\---

Steve was not happy when he found out Loki was going to group. He was _thrilled_ that Bruce was going, of course, but he threw a tantrum over Loki coming, and had to be taken to his room for a quick 10 swats over his diaper. He still didn't apologize for the tantrum, but at least he was mostly calm, just sending glares at Loki every few minutes.

What made it all worse was that Clint and Bruce kept talking to and playing with Loki. Bruce even sat on his lap because there weren't enough seats! They're all getting way too close to Loki for Steve's liking.

\---

"Excuse me, Sam?" Clint asked. "C'n I talk to you for a minute...?"

"Of course," Sam answered, smiling. "Come on. Let's go sit down."

"Okay.... Stevie, stay with Loki and Brucie or with Joshua, okay?" Clint knows that Steve doesn't like to be far from him while they're here, but he doesn't want Steve nearby while he's talking to Sam, so he's giving his little cousin two options: stay with Bruce and Loki (which is probably what he'll pick because of Bruce) or go see his friend.

"I pway wif Joshie," Steve declared, walking off in the direction of his friend.

Clint was astonished as he watched his little cousin walk away. He frowned sadly before following Sam to an empty table.

"What's up, kiddo?" Sam questioned.

"Well.... Ya know Loki lives with us now?"

"Yeah, I heard about that. How do you feel about that?"

Clint shrugged. "Okay, I guess. He's not so bad. We play some. Well, me and Brucie play with him. Stevie hates him. He threw a tantrum afore we comed here 'cause he didn't want Loki to come."

"And you're upset that your cousin doesn't like Loki?"

Clint shrugged. He knows that he can't force Steve to like Loki, but still.... "I miss Stevie.... He won't play with me n' Brucie when we play with Loki, but I don't want Loki to be all alone and feel sad.... But I think Stevie feels like that 'cause we don't play with him as much as he's used to.... We still play with him, but not all the time anymore."

"Why doesn't he want to play with Loki?"

"I think...he might be scared. Loki hurt Daddy and scared Brucie and me.... He probably doesn't trust Loki. I didn't either, but then...I overheared somethin' he n' Bruce talked about n' decided to give him a chance.... I still don't completely trust 'im, but I'm glad I'm givin' him a chance. He teach us lots 'bout Asgard. It's cool."

"Well that's good. I'm glad you're giving him a chance. ...Would you like me to talk to Steve about this?"

"Yes please! He likes you; that's why I asked _you_."

Sam smiled at that. "Sure thing. I'll be sure to talk to him before you four leave today."

"Okay. Thank you." Clint smiled at Sam before going over to Bruce and Loki. Bruce didn't seem too bothered about being around so many people, but he was holding the picture of him and Tony he brought in a death grip. Loki was curled up in a ball around Sleipnir.

"Are you two sure you wanna be here?" Clint asked. "You can go sit with Uncle Bucky if you wanna...."

Bruce shook his head as he climbed onto Clint's lap. Loki just hugged his teddy bear tighter, but insisted that he wanted to be there.

"Okay. Wanna go color until we start?" Clint waited for Bruce and Loki to nod to drag them to the art table.

\---

"Hey, Steve. Do you think we could talk for a few minutes?" Sam asked while the kids all had free time.

Steve nodded and stood up from where he was playing with Joshua. He followed Sam to an empty corner and hugged Bear tightly, plopping down on his butt.

"How are you doing, Steve?" Sam asked. Steve simply shrugged. "You having fun here?"

"Mhmm! Joshie n' me pway cars n' color city!"

"That sounds like a lot of fun, Steve! How are things at home?"

Steve shrugged. "Loki live wif us...."

"I heard about that.... You don't like that, do you?" Steve furiously shook his head no. "Why not?"

"No Loki. He bad."

"Why is he bad?"

"He hurt n' almost kill my family.... Bad. No like."

"I understand that, Steve, but he won't do that again. He _can't_. He's not capable."

Steve shrugged. He knows Loki can't hurt them with magic anymore, but still.... "No like him."

Sam sighed and opened his mouth to talk again, but was interrupted by Clint who must have been eavesdropping.

"You didn't like Brucie either when he first started bein' Little, 'member? N' he was really sad and runned away cause he thinked you hate him! N' you feeled real guilty, but then you gived him a chance n' now you love 'im! It might take longer to be like that with Loki, but can't you give him a chance? He's really fun and he telled me afore he thinks you're cool n' a really good drawer. He said maybe you can draw the creatures from Asgard he 'ascribes!"

Steve sucked his pacifier into his mouth, thinking. Clint does have a point about Brucie.... Is Loki feeling how Bruce did before he played with him? Is Loki sad and lonely? Steve certainly is without his cousins. And he wouldn't want anyone else to feel like that ever! It's no fun!

But...what if Loki _does_ end up hurting them? He might not have magic anymore, but it's not like he needs it to physically fight someone, which surely he knows how to do! Thor wouldn't have let Loki grow up without teaching him how to fight!

Though, everyone seems to be convinced that he won't hurt them....

Steve sighed. "Otay.... I give 'im one chance!"

Clint smiled widely. "Okay, Stevie. Loki will be happy about that! I'm happy too!" Clint hugged his little cousin tightly and kissed his cheek. "Wanna play with us now?"

Steve shook his head no. "At home. Playin' wif Joshie now."

"Oh, okay. Well have fun! We'll be over there if you need us." Clint pointed over at Bruce and Loki.

"Otay. Wuv you, Cwinty." Steve sloppily kissed Clint's cheek before waddling back over to Joshua and telling him everything that just happened. He likes Joshua and he trusts him. Joshua is his best friend besides his family!

"I'm proud of you for giving him a chance," Joshua finally said. "I'm sure Mommy will be too!"

Steve's cheeks reddened slightly, but he smiled into Bear's fur. He likes when people say they're proud of him. And who knows? Maybe Loki won't actually be all that bad.

\---

Loki clung to Bruce's hand at home. Clint said that Steve was going to give him a chance, but he's scared! What if Steve hurts him? He's a super soldier and he doesn't like him. Loki is mortal now, so Steve could probably kill him with his pinkie finger!

"Hey, Loki," Tony whispered, crouching in front of the trickster and his own baby. "Thor wants you to go take a bath before you play, okay?"

Loki slowly nodded. He hasn't had a proper bath in...forever. He's not sure how to work the bathtub here and he's always been too afraid to ask, so he just washes any dirt off himself with a damp wash cloth and then he sticks his head in the sink to make it seem like he had a bath! It's been working so far. He hasn't gotten in trouble yet.

"Okay." Loki stood up on shaky legs. Tony followed, lifting Bruce onto his hip.

"Come here, Loki."

Loki stared at Tony with wide eyes, but followed him to Bruce's bedroom.

"You haven't been taking your baths, have you?"

Loki froze. "H-how did you know?" He stammered.

"I went to check and see how much soap you have left; your soap wasn't even opened. I know you don't use the other boys' soap because it's made with strawberry extract. You'd be covered in hives all the time."

"I'm sorry," Loki whispered, bringing his legs up to his chest.

Tony's brow furrowed. "What are you sorry for?"

"I-I dunno how to you use the bathtub...n' I'm too scared to ask.... Sorry I've been annoying to have around. I know I shouldn't be here and none 'f you want me...." Loki sniffled. "I tried to stay in Asgard, 'cause I didn't wanna bother you all or anything, but the All Father insisted...."

"Oh, Loki...." Tony sighed. "Bruce, go find Sleipnir and ask Uncle Bucky to pour some grape juice in a cup for Loki, please?"

Bruce nodded and slid off his daddy's lap, stopping to give him a kiss on the cheek and give Loki a quick hug first.

"Alright, little guy," Tony started when Bruce left the room. He pulled Loki into his chest. He took a few deep breaths to calm his nerves, reminding himself that Loki can't hurt him. He's more of a threat to Loki than Loki is to him. "Looks like we need to have a little talk."

Loki whimpered and asked, "why?" in a small voice.

"Because you've got a lot going on in your brain and you need some help sorting through it, don't you? You haven't actually talked to your therapist yet, have you?"

"No.... She's mean to me, Mr. Stark...."

Tony frowned. "First of all, none of this _Mr. Stark_ business--got it, kid? And second of all...how is she mean to you?"

Loki sniffed. Bruce walked back in then.

"Thank you, Bruce," Tony smiled, taking the bear and cup from the baby. "Think you can go out and play with your cousins for a little bit? I need to talk to Loki for now."

Bruce pouted for a second, but then nodded upon seeing Loki near to tears. "Daddy will make better," he promised. "N' can talk me n' Clinty too if you wanna!"

"Thank you, Bruce," Loki sniffled. "I 'ppreciate it. "

Bruce gave Loki another hug before waddling out to his cousins.

"Back to the matter at hand," Tony continued after handing over Sleipnir and letting Loki drink some juice. "Your therapist is mean to you?"

Loki nodded, staring at a spot on the floor, his eyes wet. "Sh-she yells at me n' says New York was my fault. I tried to tell her about the Chitauri, Uncle Tony, I tried! But she lost her fiancée during all that, so...so she blames me. 'Cause I'm there, I guess, so it's easy....   
I always knew I'm annoying to have around and none of you'd want me, but she always reminds me of how bad and horrible I am n' says I'm stupid.... I never wanted to bother you all by comin' here, but I was forced.  
I-I tried to-to...stop... _being_...when I was on Asgard.... So I wouldn't have to bother anyone ever again, but it didn't work. That's when All Father insisted I get classified n' be taken care of."

Tony rubbed a soothing hand over the trickster's side when he began to cry. "It's okay," he cooed. "It's okay. None of that is true. Bruce and Clint told me about the Chitauri, you know? Clint kind of has a big mouth and Bruce is no good at keeping anything from me. I believe them. And you. I had noticed up in the tower that day, your eyes were different before and after Hulk swung you around...."

Loki cringed slightly at the memory, but nodded. "That's when I stopped being controlled. It hurt bad, but I'm really thankful for...for Bruce doin' that."

The two of them sat in silence for a moment. Finally: "you tried to kill yourself?"

A tiny nod from the trickster was all Tony received in response. "Loki...that's never the answer. I know what happened to you was awful, but that...that doesn't mean you should do something like that! It hurt and it was scary for you--for us too, but you explained what happened to us--well, to Bruce and Clint overheard, then we all found out from them. We know it wasn't your fault. It may take some time for that to truly sink in, but we're all working on it."

"Not Steve and Thor...."

"Steve is going to give you a chance. Thor...well, we'll talk to him later. But, little guy, you're not annoying. Or horrible, or stupid, or bad, or anything else that therapist says! Nothing was your fault. Understand? You didn't want to do it and you tried to fight against it; it's not your fault."

"I didn't try hard enough!" Loki cried. He dropped his now empty cup due to how hard he began shaking during Tony's words.

"Shh, shh," Tony cooed, holding Loki. He stroked his hair, calming the boy down. "You tried and that's all that matters. None of us here are mad at you. Not me, or Phil, or Bruce, no one. Do you hear that?"

Loki shrugged. Tony chuckled weakly. "You don't know if you hear that?" Loki shook his head no. "Okay. Well, everything I just told you is 101% true. It's okay if you don't believe me, but I want you to work on it. Think you can do that?" Loki nodded. "Good boy." Tony squeezed Loki tight. "Alright, little guy. You could always ask JARVIS to do this for you, but do you want me to show you how to fill the bathtub?"

Loki nodded again. "Yes, please."

"C'mon then. Would you like me to stay with you?"

"Nuh-uh. Thank you, though. Thank you...for everything."

Tony smiled and patted Loki's back. "Of course, little guy."

Tony made sure to show Loki how to fill and drain the bathtub, how to turn the shower on, and showed him where all the wash cloths and towels are before leaving and reminding him to have JARVIS call for him if he needed anything.

\---

_Loki filled the bathtub up all on his own. He stripped himself out of his clothes and used the toilet before sitting in the middle of the warm bath._

_A bit too warm for him._

_His heart started pounding as he saw the faucet turn on its own and steaming hot water began pouring onto his head, burning him. He couldn't move. All he could do was scream as his flesh burned. The bathroom door slowly opened and his heart full out stopped when he saw the Chitauri creep in._

_Loki's face was covered in salty water from his eyes and burning hot water from the shower head. He couldn't do anything as the Chitauri walked closer to him. He had screamed himself hoarse what felt like ages ago._

_"Please," he croaked, squeezing his eyes shut and bracing himself for more pain. "Please...."_

Loki's eyes snapped open and he saw Bucky crouching next to the bathtub.

"Hey, buddy," Bucky whispered. "You were having a nightmare. Felt a bit cold, so I made the water a bit warmer--"

Loki quickly shook his head no and began trying to climb out of the tub. "Too hot. Please. Too hot!" He cried as Bucky held him still in the tub.

"Shh, it's okay," Bucky soothed as he began draining the water. "I'm sorry it was too hot--it didn't feel that hot to me. I'll cool it down some."

 _"If I may,"_ JARVIS interrupted, _"Loki is a Frost Giant. He is much accustomed to cold; anything too warm likely hurts him."_

Loki nodded at that, looking at Bucky miserably. "Hot."

"Oh my god," Bucky whispered, turning the water just shy of freezing. "I'm so sorry, Loki! Steve can't stand cold and can't get enough heat. You're the opposite. I'll make sure I remember that for next time. Think you're ready to get out?" He had dumped a few cold capfuls of water over Loki's body and he seemed much calmer now.

"Mhmm...."

Bucky stood and lifted Loki out of the tub, wrapping him in a towel to dry him. "Do you wanna talk about your nightmare?"

Loki shook his head no.

"Okay.... What about all these bruises?"

Loki silently looked down at the floor. "Would you rather talk to Tony? Or maybe Bruce or Clint?"

"Uncle Tony, please...."

"Alright, buddy. C'mere." Bucky lifted Loki onto his hip, making him yelp and hold onto him tightly. Bucky smiled and made sure the towel covered Loki completely before walking out to the playroom with him still on his hip.

"Tone?" He asked, patting Loki's butt gently when he started to squirm at all the eyes on him. "Loki would like to talk to you."

Tony stood up and took Loki from his friend. "Bruce, you finish writing that story with Aunt Tasha, okay? Maybe you can read it to Loki when we come back."

"Okay, Dada!" Bruce settled in on Natasha's lap, only a little upset about his daddy leaving him. He knows Loki needs him right now. He can handle being without Daddy for a few more minutes.

Tony sat down on Loki's bed with the boy on his lap, wrapped in a giant towel decorated with kittens. "You alright, little guy?" Tony asked.

Loki immediately began sobbing. "Chitauri! They're coming to get me! They almost got me in my dream, but Uncle Bucky woke me before they could!"

"Hey...Loki, the Chitauri are _not_ going to get you. I won't let them. None of us will. Your dreams are only dreams. Nobody can hurt you in there."

Loki sniffled. He _was_ hurt in his dream, but...Uncle Bucky had been pouring warm water on him in real life, so maybe it just transferred into his dream. Maybe it wasn't actually the Chitauri, but just Bucky trying to comfort him and not knowing he was hurting him.... Tony, Bruce, and Clint have been being nice to him; Phil and Natasha mostly ignore him, but are nice when they do end up talking to him; Steve said he'll give him a chance.... Thor.... Well, the others will surely protect him. Definitely Bruce. He trusts Bruce.

"Okay," Loki finally whispered. "I believe you, Uncle Tony, but I can't help bein' scared.... I was with the Chitauri for a long time...."

"I know, Loki. I don't expect you to stop being scared; that was something really traumatic you went through. I'm still dealing with my own trauma and I get scared sometimes, even though it happened years ago and, arguably, was not as bad as what you went through."

"...you went through something scary too?"

"Yeah. Plenty of scary things. It's perfectly okay for people to still be scared after going through something difficult, and nobody expects them to just get over it like that," Tony snapped his fingers, "but it gets easier when you talk to a therapist. I know your therapist is mean to you, so we'll find you a new one. It's okay to change therapists. _I've_ seen at least 13 different ones in the last 4 years! And many more before that; I'm still not sure if I like my current therapist.... You just let me know if you don't like your new therapist, okay?"

Loki nodded, finally calm. Tony's gonna take care of him.

"Now...would you like to tell me about all these bruises?"

Loki shrugged and hugged the towel around himself tighter. "Th-the ones on my wrists and upper arms are from Thor grabbing me tight, but all the others are from the therapist...."

Tony frowned as he took in all the bruises: some large, some small, all multicolor, and all over his arms, back, and legs. There were even a few welts across his backside, seemingly from a cane. _What kind of therapist keeps a cane in their office?!_

"S-Some scars and burns are from being with the Chitauri.... Asgard doctors healed most of the scars and burns, but some are still there...."

Tony hugged the boy tightly. "It's going to be okay," he promised. "I'll talk to Thor and find you a new therapist tonight. Nobody will hurt you again."

"Thank you, Uncle Tony...."

  
Tony sat with Loki for a few minutes until Bruce knocked on the door.

"Dada? Loki okay?"

"I'm okay," Loki sniffled, wiping at his eyes.

"Wanna go play with the boys?" Tony asked, bouncing Loki on his knee. "It's okay to say no--we can stay in here if you want to."

"I wanna play," Loki decided.

"Alright. Wanna pick your clothes out?" Loki shrugged. "Come on. Let's go see what we've got." Tony stood and brought Loki to his dresser. "Bruce, wanna help?"

"Okay!" Bruce crawled over to them and plopped down on his butt. "Wear this!" He pulled out a tshirt with a kitten in a box on it and some dark gray sweatpants with fuzzy kitten socks.

"That's a good choice, Bruce. Do you like that outfit, Loki?"

"Mhmm. Good choice, Bruce." Bruce smiled widely at the praise.

Tony helped Loki get dressed, adding a pair of underwear to the clothes Bruce pulled out.

"Play now?" Bruce asked, bouncing on his knees.

"You need a diaper first, baby," Tony pointed out. "Loki, why don't you go start playing with Clint and Steve? Bruce will be there in a minute."

Loki tentatively agreed and walked out to the playroom, holding Sleipnir tightly.

"Loki!" Clint smiled. "Wanna play? Me and Stevie are building a tower with blocks!"

"Okay.... Can Sleipnir build too?"

Clint nodded and smiled when Loki sat next to him on the floor.

Loki took in the base of the tower Clint and Steve had started building and reached for a yellow block. Steve whined then. "No! Not yellows in tower!"

Loki noticed that no yellow blocks made up the tower. "Oh. Sorry, Steve." He grabbed a blue one instead, causing Steve to pout and get upset again.

"Mine!"

Loki frowned, but handed over the block he held.

"Stevie, you have to share," Bucky reprimanded. "Let Loki play with you."

"He not playin' right, Dada!"

Loki sniffled and crawled over to his old spot in the corner and curled up. He'd been afraid since he was classified that he wouldn't know how to play right--on Asgard, younger kids mainly just run around and play fight or go swimming; they don't play with toys apart from fake weapons (which absolutely nobody would let him have here, even if they say they trust him). When he started playing with Clint and Bruce, they assured him that there is no wrong way to play. Now Steve says otherwise....

"Steven! Go apologize to Loki. _Now_."

Steve crossed his arms and glared at Loki. "I gived him a chance n' he didn' play right!"

Tony walked out then and placed Bruce on the blanket with his stuffed dolphin. Bruce crawled straight over to Loki and rested his head against his legs.

"Steve, why don't you come with me?" Tony suggested, gently. "Actually, Bucky, Nat, and Thor should come too. Will you be okay alone with them, Phil?"

Phil nodded. "We'll be fine alone."

Tony nodded and led the way into the kitchen.

Steve looked grumpy as he sat on Thor's lap.

"Look...Loki's been through a lot, just as we all have."

Thor scoffed. "He led aliens to try to take over New York! _You_ almost died because of him!"

Tony shook his head. "No, Thor. He didn't tell you? He was kidnapped by the Chitauri."

"Oh he told me, but he's a trickster, so you can't trust him."

Tony sighed. "He's not lying, Thor. He's never lied to any of us. Being a trickster doesn't mean being a liar. Loki has PTSD from his experience. You can't fake that. If it would make you feel better, Bruce and I will create a lie detector test."

"Please do so. I don't trust him."

"Will the lie detector make you trust him?"

"Aye."

Tony held back a sigh. Thor shouldn't need to have his brother go through a lie detector test to be able to trust him. "Okay. Bruce and I will do that next time he's big."

Thor nodded, leaning back in his seat and shifting Steve on his knee.

"Did...did Loki really be kidnapped...?" Steve asked softly.

"Yes. And he was mind controlled by his kidnappers--like Clint."

"He no knowed what he was doin'?"

"He couldn't control it. He tried to fight against it, but he couldn't."

Steve sniffled. He's been so mean to Loki, but it wasn't his fault. He's like Clint. He shouldn't have been so mean.

Steve scrambled off of Thor's lap and waddled back to the playroom as fast as he could with a wet diaper. He saw Loki sat on the floor, clinging to Bruce and Clint while Phil sat behind them, rubbing Loki's back. Steve sunk down to his knees next to them and tapped his cousins' shoulders. They both let go of Loki and backed away. Steve launched himself into Loki's arms and hugged him tightly.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

Loki's eyes widened, but he slowly lifted his arms to return the hug. "It's okay, Steve. 'M not mad at you."

"Sad?"

"I'm not sad at you either. I understand why you acted how you did. I probably would have too...."

"I be nice. Promise. Wanna color?"

"Sure."


	25. Chapter uhhh??? 21??

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uhhhhh   
> sorry it’s been a million and a half years  
> again   
> but here’s this   
> idk if it makes sense bc i haven’t read it since i wrote it whenever ago but  
> i wanted to just get something out so here’s this, the next thing i post will be Loki’s first session with Tori which i am going to write as soon as this is up.   
> i hope to write more often and finish this by May/June. I’m aiming for another 3-5 chapters after this (not including Loki’s first session)   
> i’m sorry it’s been so long, i’ll try to do better

_He's burning. Not only is his body on fire, but his mind is too. Everything hurts. He can't do anything but scream. Pain. Fire._

Loki shot up in his bed and felt something hard smack into his head, bringing pain. He felt his chest constrict in fear. He opened his mouth to scream before seeing Thor. Safe. He's in the tower with the Avengers. He's safe.

"Are you alright, brother? You were screaming." Thor asked softly, rubbing his head. A small red bump appeared in the middle of his forehead. It will be gone in less than an hour.

"Y-yes, Thor. I'm sorry for waking you," Loki squeaked.

"It's okay. Were you having a nightmare?"

Loki swallowed thickly and nodded. He always used to go to Thor when he had a nightmare as a child. Thor would hold him and tell him stories about the adventures they would have together when they got older to get him back to sleep. Would Thor still do that now or would he just tell him to get over it like everyone in Asgard did?

"Would-would you like a hug?"

Loki looked up at his brother with wide eyes.

"I know I haven't been a very good brother or caregiver lately. Tony told me about what happened to you with the Chitauri. He was originally going to make a lie detector test for you to show me that you weren't lying, but he convinced me to give you a chance without it.... It was not your intention to hurt anyone. I apologize for being rude and rough with you, Loki. I hope you can forgive me...."

Loki launched himself into his brother's arms and hugged him tightly. Thor was surprised, but wrapped his arms around him.

"I forgive you," Loki whispered. He rested his head against Thor's chest, sleepily.

Thor patted his brother's back. "Come, brother. Let's go get you changed and then would you like some warm milk?"

"Yes, please. Can Sleipnir come?"

"Aye." Thor stood up with Loki on his hip, making the boy cling to him tightly with wide eyes. "It's okay. I won't drop you. You're safe now. No more Chitauri." Thor gently bounced his little brother, calming him down significantly.

Loki was quiet and calm as Thor cleaned him and changed him into a new pull-up, then sat down on the couch with a plastic cup full of warm milk. Loki sat on Thor's lap and cuddled into his chest.

"Would you like a story?" Thor asked. Loki nodded as he wrapped his lips around his straw and sucked up warm milk. "Okay. Well, once upon a time...."

\---

Loki was startled awake by the TV playing _Mickey Mouse Clubhouse_.

He sat up, rubbing his eyes and was surprised to find himself still on Thor's lap.

"Sorry, Loki," Bucky said. "I didn't know the TV would be that loud."

"T's okay," Loki yawned.

"I'm surprised you didn't wake up before this with Thor snoring in your ear," Tony commented.

Loki shrugged as he slid off his brother's lap. "'M used to it. Used to sleep with him all the time. He used to be a lot worse when we were kids."

Natasha snorted. "I find that hard to believe."

"It's true! He used to snore a lot louder and he always kicked in his sleep! Now he only kicks when he hears something and thinks he might be in danger and he snores quieter too!"

"How did he snore when you were kids, then?" Clint asked from where he was sat on the floor with Bruce and Steve. "Like-like this?" He fake-snored loudly, sounding very similar to a snorting pig.

The kids all giggled at that and Loki nodded.

"Want some breakfast, Loki?" Natasha asked. "We all already ate, but we saved some pancakes for you and Thor."

"Yes, please. But I have to go to the bathroom first."

"Alright. I'll get you your breakfast. What do you want to drink?"

"Chocolate milk, please."

Loki waited for Natasha to nod before he stood and walked to the bathroom. He stood outside the door, nervously.

Everyone has said the Chitauri won't get him, that he's safe, but...what if they snuck in? What if they hid in the bathroom and are waiting for him?

Loki was too lost in his thoughts that he didn't realize he was wetting his pull-up. He froze and his lip trembled as his eyes filled with tears.

"Loki? Are you okay?" Tony asked.

"I-I'm sorry," Loki sniffled, folding his arms across himself. "I didn't mean to!"

"It's okay. It happens, but...you were just standing outside the door; why didn't you go inside and try to go potty?"

"I...was scared that maybe...the Chitauri were hiding in the bathroom and would hurt me.... I know you said they wouldn't, but...if maybe they snuck in...."

"Nobody can sneak in here, little guy. I promise you. Absolutely no one. JARVIS is always here in multiple ways, so even if all the power in the tower shut off, he'd still be able to protect us all in other ways. I promise you, nobody is going to hurt you. Do you believe me?"

Loki sniffled and nodded. He really does. Tony hasn't lied to him. He takes care of him and Loki thinks he might actually care about him.... That's rare, but it's nice to know somebody cares about him.

"Good. Now, let's get you changed." Tony led Loki into the bathroom and helped him get into a clean pull-up.

"Thank you for being kind to me," Loki whispered.

"Of course I'm being kind to you. You're a good boy. You don't deserve rudeness."

"But--" Loki tried to protest, bringing up the Chitauri again, but Tony cut him off with a finger to his lips.

"That wasn't your fault. You're a good boy. Now let's go get you some breakfast." Tony tickled Loki's tummy when it growled, making the trickster giggle.

Loki followed Tony to the kitchen wearing just his pull-up. Steve followed them, waddling slightly. He sat next to Loki and began drawing a picture.

"Hi, Steve," Loki greeted as he took a sip of his chocolate milk. He's still a bit nervous about being around Steve, but Tony's in here and he knows he'll protect him.

"Loki scared?" Steve asked.

Loki shifted uncomfortably. "I was," he whispered. "The Chitauri...I can't stop thinking about them. I know they're looking for me and it's scary.... But Uncle Tony said they can't get in. And if they _did_ I would do better at fighting them. I promise! I'd protect you and-and everyone. I'd be good!"

Steve nodded. "I believe you. I'd help too, but we won't have to, 'cause they won't come! You safe."

Loki sniffled and nodded as Steve hugged him.

Thor walked in the kitchen then and put the rest of the pancakes on his plate and drowned them in syrup.

"How do you have that much syrup, Uncle Thor?" Clint grimaced, being carried in on Bucky's back. "Even _I_ don't have that much when Daddy lets me have as much as I want!"

"We do not have this in Asgard," Thor simply explained.

"That doesn't mean you gotta use so much! You may as well just drink the entire bottle and forget about the pancakes!"

Bucky rolled his eyes as he set Clint down on the counter and grabbed his favorite sippy cup from the cabinet. "This is coming from the kid who puts so much hot sauce on pizza that literally _nobody else_ can eat it!"

Clint stuck his tongue out and reached for his sippy cup once it was full of apple juice. He slid off the counter and walked over to Steve, leaning over his shoulder to see his drawing as he drank his juice. Steve leaned his head back against his older cousin's chest.

"Whatcha drawin', Stevie?"

"T-Rex!"

"Awesome!" Clint bounced lightly on his feet. Loki noticed that Clint doesn't have pants on either. The only difference is...Clint is wearing underpants with dogs on them.... But...Loki's supposed to be bigger than him and he's wearing a pull-up!

"Are you okay, Loki?" Thor asked, looking up from his pancakes. His beard is covered in syrup.

"Mhmm. I'm okay, Thor."

Thor narrowed his eyes at his brother, but let him be.

"Loki, I have some different therapists you can choose from," Tony said. He placed a folder overfilled with papers down on the table.

"Okay. How long do I have to decide?"

"You can have three weeks. But if you need more time, that's okay; just let me know."

Loki nodded and started eating his pancakes.

\---

Thor ran around the tower frantically, shortly after lunch time.

"Loki! Where are you?!" He shouted.

Bruce cringed and hid his face in Tony's chest when he heard Thor's loud voice.

"Loud, Dada," he whimpered. "Gonna wake Stevie."

"I know," Tony whispered, rubbing his hand over Bruce's sides. "Thor, you're being too loud. Can you please be quieter?"

"I'm sorry," Thor sighed. He gently rubbed Bruce's cheek with his thumb. "I...I've lost Loki. I can't find him. What if he got out of the tower and--and got hurt?"

Tony knew Thor was actually thinking about Loki hurting _other people_ , but didn't say anything about it.

"He can't. JARVIS isn't allowed to even let him be in the elevator alone, so he can't have gotten out unless he went through the vents--which he's afraid of because he's claustrophobic--or if he jumped out the window, which we would have noticed. J, where's Loki?"

" _Loki is asleep in his bedroom_ ," was the AI's response.

Thor ran to Loki's bedroom and sighed in relief when he saw his brother curled up on his side, hugging his teddy bear. His face looked a bit pink and he was sweating a bit, so Thor took one of the blankets off of him before returning to the playroom.

"I'm very sorry for being so loud," Thor whispered, looking ashamed as he stood in front of Tony and Bruce.

"'S okay, Uncle Thor," Bruce replied. "Quiet time now?"

"Of course. Would you like to make cupcakes with me?"

"Yay!" Bruce smiled widely, his tongue poking out through his teeth.

Thor smiled back. "Let's get started, then."

"Thor?" Tony asked, shifting Bruce on his hip. "Do you think you could watch him for me for a little while? I have to go get some work done."

"Of course I can!"

Bruce stared at his Daddy with wide, hurtful eyes. "No, Dada! Stay wif you!"

"Baby, just for a little while. You and Uncle Thor can make and decorate cupcakes, then I'll be back up. I promise."

Bruce clutched onto his daddy tightly. He's hardly had any time alone with Daddy in so long! He doesn't blame Loki for that--he knows Loki needs comfort and Tony is the only adult here he trusts--but he misses his daddy and...he's still afraid. Daddy almost died because of the Chitauri; Daddy's been kidnapped and hurt before so many times.... Daddy needs Bruce to protect him and keep him safe.

"It'll be okay, baby," Tony whispered. "Uncle Thor's with you. Uncles Bucky and Phil and your cousins are up here too, napping. They should wake up soon, though."

"Wan' Daddy."

Tony sighed. "Okay, baby. I'll stay with you." He'll just do his work tonight after Bruce goes to sleep.

Tony held Bruce up on his hip while he and Thor made cupcakes. When the cupcakes went in the oven, Bruce allowed Tony to place him on Thor's lap for a story, but only as long as Tony promised to stay right next to them. _Daddy can't go too far away or else he might get hurt._

The three of them decorated cupcakes when they came out of the oven and were cool--Thor's cupcakes were more frosting and candy than actual cupcake; Bruce's were made to look like cartoon characters; Tony was boring and simply slathered some frosting on and called it a day.

After decorating, Clint, Phil, and Loki walked into the kitchen.

"Cupcakes!" Clint exclaimed, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Can I have one?! Please?"

"Of course, Clint. Choose whichever one you would like," Thor smiled. "Loki, do you want one too?"

Loki shook his head from where it was buried against Phil's shoulder.

"Loki had a bad dream," Phil explained quietly, patting the boy's back.

Thor frowned. "Come here, brother. Would you like to talk about it?"

"No," Loki whispered. He hid his face in Thor's hair.

"Okay. Are you positive you don't want a cupcake?"

Loki shrugged.

Bruce silently reached over and placed the Paw Patrol cupcake he worked so hard on in front of Loki.

"You're a sweet boy," Tony whispered into Bruce's hair, squeezing him lightly. Bruce had been talking about how excited he was to eat that cupcake since he finished decorating it. He must really love Loki to give him that cupcake.

"Thank you," Loki whispered. He slowly sat up and peeled the paper off the cupcake, eating it at a snail's pace.

\---

Loki stood in the elevator, chewing on a lock of his hair, nervously.

"Loki, don't chew your hair," Bucky chastised gently. Loki is big right now, but he's not allowed to travel between floors by himself, so he had Bucky bring him down here.

Loki huffed, but let Bucky tug his hair out of his mouth.

Finally the elevator doors slid open and Loki jumped, seeing big glass doors in front of him. He started shaking lightly. The Chitauri kept him behind glass for a while, poking hot rods and pointy needles in through the air holes....

Bucky typed in some numbers on the keypad and the doors opened. Bucky led Loki into the workshop and over to where Tony was working, wearing a welding mask and gloves on his hands.

"Tony?" Loki asked softly.

Tony started, but quickly shut the welding gun off and turned to give Loki his attention. He smiled, seeing him still holding onto Sleipnir despite being totally big at the moment."Yeah? What's up, Loki?"

"Um...well, there are two things...." Loki shifted, uncomfortably.

Bucky cleared his throat. "I should probably get back upstairs to check on Steve. I'll leave you two to talk alone." He patted Loki gently on the back and went back to the elevator.

"What's up?" Tony repeated after seeing the doors close.

"Um...Thor told me this morning that you were going to make a lie detector test...."

Tony's heart clenched. Is Loki upset that he was going to do that? Does he think he doesn't trust him?

"I was going to make one so you could prove to Thor that you weren't lying about what happened to you. I convinced him that you weren't lying, because I know that you weren't. I convinced him to give you a chance without the test."

"How do you know for sure, though?"

"The way you react to certain things, the way you think...you're not lying. And I, personally, know it sucks when someone you care about thinks you're lying about something even when you're not."

Loki slowly nodded. "What did people think you lied about?"

Tony scoffed. "What haven't people thought I lied about? I've been known by pretty much everyone in the world since before I was even born. I'm in my 40's now and I've been working since I was about 20. People have said a lot, Loki. My father always used to call me a liar, but my friends always knew the truth: they knew I would never lie to them about anything important."

"Have you lied to other people about important things? Have you lied to your friends about unimportant things?"

"Well...yes.... Sometimes it's necessary to keep my job. And to my friends...it's not so much as I _lied_ to them, more like I just _didn't_ tell them something important...."

"Why?"

"Why is it necessary to lie or why didn't I tell my friends?"

"Both."

Tony grabbed a wrench and started fiddling with it. "Sometimes I have to lie for my job or people will think differently about me and judge or hurt me or stop buying my products. I don't lie to them about anything that could harm them, though. I didn't tell my friends...a while ago I was close to death. I didn't tell them because I didn't want them to get scared or treat me different or try to keep me locked up or from doing my job.... But I'm okay now. My friends forgave me for not telling them. Everything is okay now.... Why did you bring up the lie detector test?"

"I want you to make it. Please. And I'll take the test in front of Thor--in front of whoever I need to--and prove that I'm not lying. Thor still doesn't trust me. He's being nicer, but I want him to trust me and to believe me about what happened!"

Loki's eyes began watering and Tony gave him a hug. "Loki...I can talk to him--"

" _Please_. He's not going to believe me unless the test can prove it. _Please_ , Tony?"

Tony sighed. "Okay. Okay, Loki. I'll start working on it with Bruce next time he's big, alright?"

"Thank you." Loki rested his head against Tony's shoulder.

"What else did you want to talk about?"

"I picked a therapist that I would like to speak to." Loki pulled away from the hug, nervously. What if he made a bad decision? What if this therapist is mean? Or what if he just doesn't like her? What if Tony doesn't like her for him?

"That's great!" Tony smiled widely. "Who was it? Do you remember their name?"

"Tori."

"That's Steve's therapist!"

"Oh-I-I didn't know! I'll pick someone else--"

"No, Loki, you don't need to pick someone else. I was just commenting that Tori is also Steve's therapist--she has a lot of patients and can have more. I think she'll be a good fit for you, but let me know if you don't like her, okay? I'll call her and make an appointment before I go to bed, okay?"

Loki's brow furrowed. "But you don't always sleep at night."

Tony chuckled. "Yeah. It's not good, but I'm getting better at going to sleep at night."

"Why don't you sleep at night?"

"I have to work. I'm not always able to with Bruce, so I have to stay up at night sometimes to work. I was planning to go to sleep in a little while, but I can go upstairs a little early to tuck you in, if you'd like."

Loki hummed. He doesn't want to pull Tony away from his work, but he's really tired, and Tony probably is too.... "Can I have some warm milk, please?"

"Sure. Let's go."

\---

"Hey, Bucky?" Tony asked through the door. "You okay?"

The door opened and Bucky appeared, holding a half asleep Steve on his hip. "I am, but Steve isn't feeling so great. What's up?" Bucky bounced Steve lightly when he began to squirm.

"I was going to ask you if you could take Loki to his first appointment with Tori, but Steve is sick, so--"

"I can take him. Steve is about to fall asleep, and he'll probably stay asleep for a few hours. Natasha could stay with him."

"No, it's fine. Stay with your baby. I'll ask Phil if he can take him."

"Okay. Just out of curiosity, though: why can't you take him?"

"Bruce is feeling big enough to work in the lab today; we're going to start on the lie detector test."

"Right...." Bucky doesn't like that Loki feels like he needs this for Thor to trust him, though he knows it probably really is necessary. "Okay. Well, if Phil can't either, I'm still here."

"Thanks." Tony looked over at Steve, suckling miserably on a pacifier. He pressed a kiss to the baby's sweaty forehead. "Feel better, Steve. Let me know if I can get you guys anything, alright?"

"Thank you, Tony. I will."

Tony walked next door to Phil's room. The door was open, so he walked right in.

Phil sat with Clint on his lap, snuggled up against his chest, half asleep. Clint wore just a pull-up with his nemo blanket wrapped around himself and Esther in his arms. Phil rubbed gentle circles against Clint's tummy. Both of their attention was on the TV screen, playing Paw Patrol.

"Hi, Uncle Tony," Clint greeted, not looking away from the TV.

"Hey, buddy. How'd you know I was coming?"

"I got ears."

Tony blinked. "Well, yeah, but...." Clint is deaf. He wears hearing aids, but has them turned low.

Phil rolled his eyes. "Natasha told him you were coming in."

Tony jumped when he noticed Natasha sat on the other couch. He could have sworn she wasn't there a second ago!

"What're you doing, Uncle Tony?"

"I was coming in here to ask if your daddy would be willing to take Loki to meet his therapist today. Bruce and I are going to start working on the lie detector test."

"Sure, I'll take him," Phil shrugged. "What time?"

"The appointment is in an hour and a half."

"Alright. No problem--"

"But," Clint whined, pulling at Phil's sleeve and looking up at him with watery eyes, "Daddy! Cuddling!"

"I know, bug. I don't have to go for a while, so we can cuddle until then and when I get home. Or you could come with us and we can cuddle while Loki talks to Tori."

Clint sniffled. "But I don't wanna go out today! I wanna stay here and cuddle and watch TV, Daddy! Please!"

"Aunt Tasha will watch TV with you!"

"Yeah," Natasha agreed. "We can even have popcorn if you want!"

Clint sniffled. "Why can't Aunt Tasha just take him? I wanna stay home with Daddy!"

The three adults exchanged a look and shrugged.

Natasha was never particularly fond of Loki, even knowing what he's been through. She wouldn't say she hates him, but she doesn't care for him as much as the others do. She knows what happened to Clint was the Chitauri's doing, but she's always been extremely protective over Clint. Clint was protective of her too. Natasha would never blame Loki or day that anything was his fault, but it was his body doing what happened....

"I can take him," Natasha agreed. Bucky has suggested she spend more time with Loki so it could sink in that, though it was Loki's body hurting Clint, it wasn't really him.

Clint curled into Phil's chest, smiling when Natasha said that. "Thank you, Aunt Tasha."

Natasha hummed. "I'm going to go take a shower before we go. Make sure Loki is ready."

"Sure thing. Thanks for taking him," Tony said before walking away.

—-

Loki sat on the couch, holding Sleipnir tight. Bucky is with Steve because Steve is sick. Bruce and Tony are down in the lab and he's not allowed there when they're working. Clint and Phil are watching TV together in their room. Thor is out somewhere on a mission—Odin wants Thor to take care of Loki, but still do work and go to battle.

So Loki's alone.

He's supposed to go to his first appointment with Tori today. Tony said Natasha would take him. Loki doesn't think Natasha likes him very much, but he doesn't have much choice. He sat on the couch, already fully dressed, holding Sleipnir, waiting for Natasha.

He's nervous. What if Natasha gets mad at him? What if Tori doesn't like him? What if the Chitauri come back?

"Hey...are you okay, Loki?" Natasha crouched in front of the boy, placing a gentle hand on his knee.

Loki's body tensed up. "Y-yeah...."

"You know you don't have to lie to me, right?"

"'M not lying," Loki insisted.

Natasha pursed her lips. "Okay. Are you ready to go, then?"

"Yeah."

"Have you gone potty first?"

He hasn't, but he doesn't want to keep Natasha waiting and end up making her angry. He's sure he'll be fine. Even if he's not, he has a pull-up on, so Natasha would never know. He could wait until they get home then take care of himself.

"I don't have to go potty. Let's go."

Natasha sighed inwardly. She grabbed the diaper bag and Loki's hand and they were off.


	26. Loki's First Therapy Session

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wowza i wrote that fast (it's short but eh)  
> i have yet to start the next chapter aside from writing the letter L  
> i'll work on that later, but i'm looking for a job (harder than i was before, i'm actuually looking now) soooo lets hope i get a job and am still able to write (i say that like i actually write but the last time i updated this was how many months ago exactlY? who tf knows and i have no excuses so. gotta go to english class now which i HATE OKAY BYE ENJOY LOKI SUFFERING)
> 
> okay but be real; who actually reads my notes? comment "sausage" if you do

Loki sat in the backseat of Natasha's car, chewing on a lock of his hair. He's nervous. _Chitauri.... What if Tori is mean? What if she doesn't like me? What if Natasha's mad she has to take me?_

"We're here. Ready to go inside, Loki?"

Loki nodded. He waited for Natasha to unbuckle his seatbelt and help him out of the car.

"Can—can I bring Sleipnir in?"

"Of course you can."

Natasha placed her hand on Loki's back and led him inside.

"We just have to wait a few minutes, then Tori will come get you. Do you want me to come in with you?"

Loki doesn't particularly want to be alone, but he knows Natasha won't want to come in with him. She's just being nice.

"No thank you. I'll be okay alone."

"Are you sure?"

"Mhmm."

"Okay, then. You can ask Tori if you ever want me to come in, though."

"Okay."

The two fell silent. Natasha wanted to say something to Loki, but didn't know what or how. What could she possibly say to a scared and traumatized trickster in the mindset of a 6-year old child?

"Loki?" Tori stepped out of her office with a big smile on her face. "Hello! I'm Tori."

Loki whispered a greeting back, clutching tighter to his teddy bear.

"Are you ready to come in and talk?"

Loki took a deep breath and nodded. He followed Tori inside and stood awkwardly next to the coat hanger in the corner.

"You can sit down on the couch if you'd like. Do you want anything to drink? I have water, milk, apple juice, tea, coffee...."

Loki hummed in thought as he slowly sat on the couch. He's never had coffee. He's wanted to try it for a while, but Thor never let him.

"Coffee? Please?"

"Sure. Just give me a minute." Tori smiled and walked over to the Keurig machine in the back of the room and prepared a cup of coffee for Loki. She added some cream and sugar, then handed it to Loki. Loki took a large gulp and immediately spit it out and started fanning his tongue and crying. It feels like he just licked a flame!

"Hot!"

Tori gently rubbed Loki's back. "It's okay, sweetheart. I should have warned you that it would be hot. How about some water?"

Loki quickly nodded. He hurriedly drank the water bottle Tori gave him before realizing what he did. He looked at the brown coffee stain on the floor and began shaking.

"I-I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I was rude and spit out the drink you made me and I ruined your floor. I-I'll fix it. I'm so sorry—"

"Hey.... Don't worry about it. Like I said, I should have told you the coffee was hot. It's not your fault. Just sit back and relax, okay? Want some more water?"

Loki shook his head quickly. He was rude; he doesn't deserve Tori's kindness. He doesn't deserve any kindness.

"Well, I'll get you another bottle incase you change your mind. You don't have to drink it, but feel free." Tori set to work cleaning up the small coffee stain on the floor, then sat back in her chair to look at Loki. "What are you thinking about, Loki?"

Loki shrugged. "I'm sorry," He whispered, looking down at the teddy bear he held. He threw it down on the couch next to him. He's a grown man; he doesn't need a stupid teddy bear.

"It's okay, really. People have done worse than spit out some coffee in here. That was an accident. Would you tell me what you're thinking?"

"Just...that I'm really sorry. You were kind to me even though I was rude.... I don't deserve your kindness...or anyone's kindness...."

"Why do you think you don't deserve kindness?"

"Because I was rude! And bad! And I'm always mean! I don't deserve kindness when I'm never kind and don't do anything to deserve that kindness!"

"Everybody deserves kindness, Loki."

"Not me."

"Yes you do. Just because you've done mean things in the past doesn't make you bad or undeserving of kindness. That was the past. This is now. You've been trying to change, haven't you?"

Loki slowly nodded. "I never liked being mean.... That was the only way I could get attention when Thor and I were young. I wasn't strong or...or charming like Thor. But I was good at magic. After simply being good at magic stopped getting me attention...I started playing tricks and practical jokes. I never hurt anyone on purpose, but I did hurt them. Since I was 7 the only person who was truly kind to me was my and Thor's mother...."

"Do you think you don't deserve your mother's kindness?"

Loki shrugged. "I was always nice to mother. She was nice to me, so I reciprocated that."

"And other people were mean to you?" Loki nodded. "So you reciprocated that with them. Everybody has to treat others the way they want to be treated."

"People were always mean to me," Loki whispered. "It upset me. I just wanted attention and...and friends.... But they bullied me. I played jokes with my magic to show them how I felt, but they would only get angrier and meaner."

"Since you've been living with the Avengers, how have they been treating you?"

Loki shrugged. "Tony, Bruce, and Clint have been really nice. Steve is nice too now. He wasn't always, but Tony told him what had happened to me and Steve has been nicer since then. Bucky's nice too. Natasha...she's nice to me, but I don't think she likes me very much. Thor...he was really mean when we started living here. Then he was ignoring me a lot. Now...he's a bit kinder, but he still doesn't really trust me. I try to be nice to all of them. I try to stay polite. I say please and thank you. I don't fight when they tell me to take a bath or go to bed."

"You just said you try to be nice to them. So that means you're deserving of their kindness, correct?"

Loki stares at a spot on the floor. He slowly brought Sleipnir back into his arms. "I...but I hurt them."

"That wasn't you. It was your body, but not your mind. You didn't want to do any of that. Since then, you've been being nice. You've been being good. _You_. Your consciousness. You choose how you act now. You can choose to be kind or rude. You're choosing to be kind. Don't you think that deserves to be reciprocated unto you?"

Loki was still for a few moments before he nodded.

Tori smiled. "This will be good for you, Loki."


	27. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> liar liar plants for hire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it’s coming along  
> i forgot i had a document full of notes and ideas for this so there might be a few more chapters than originally planned bc i like them and wanna do (at least one) and i don’t want it to end too quick and not make sense (not that any of this entire fic made sense but)   
> also i was gonna have loki try to kill himself in this chapter but then i was like like “lol maybe i shouldn’t write a suicide attempt when i’m suicidal ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯” (i won’t do anything tho so)  
> enjoy, sorry for ranting and being annoying

Loki and Natasha sat in the car together in silence after Loki's first appointment with Tori. The radio softly played some music. Some girl called Katy Perry was singing. Loki swears he could hear Natasha humming along.

Loki stared out the window at all the cars and people and buildings. He let out a soft gasp when they passed a toy store. He's never been in a toy store before! That's when he realized...they're going the opposite way of home—er...the Avengers Tower. He's been to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s therapy building before and they've never passed a toy store on the way back to the tower before.

"Tasha? Where are we going?"

"I thought we could stop for some lunch before we go home," Natasha explained. "There's a really good Italian place over here. Do you like Italian food, Loki?"

Loki shrugged. "I dunno. I don't think I've had it before."

"Sure you have! I've made baked ziti before, you've had stuffed eggshells, ravioli, spaghetti and meatballs. Tony even got us all cannolis once!"

"Then, yes, I love Italian food! I didn't know all that was Italian. Countries have different foods?"

"Sure. Italian, Chinese, Thai, Mexican.... People eat that stuff everywhere. Italian is probably the most popular because of pizza, though some countries put their own spin and different toppings on pizza."

"Wow! That's really cool!"

Natasha looked at Loki in the mirror and smiled at him. How could she not? His own face has a huge smile on it and he's so fascinated.

"Ready to go eat?"

Loki nodded. "Can Sleipnir come?"

"Sure. You'll just have to put him on the chair next to you so he doesn't get messy while you eat."

"Okay." Loki climbed out of the car and took Natasha's hand as they walked inside.

"You can get whatever you want, Loki."

Loki ordered grape juice and baked ziti. Natasha had iced tea and pumpkin raviolis.

"So, Loki, how did you like Tori?"

"She's nice!"

"Good! Loki.... When...I went to make your next appointment...Tori said you think I don't like you. Is that true?"

Loki bit his lip. It _is_ true and now Natasha's gonna be mad at him. What's she gonna do to him?

"Hey...don't hyperventilate. It's okay. I'm...sorry you got that vibe from me. In all honesty, it was pretty accurate. I wouldn't say i hate you, but I don't like you as much as Tony or Bucky or the kids. Well, I didn't. I want to like you. It was hard for me because I couldn't help knowing it was your body that did what happened to Clint and Phil, though logically, I know it wasn't really you. It was the Chitauri. I'm just so protective of Clint and Phil, that...I didn't give you a fair chance. I'm sorry. After lunch, if you'd like, you and I could spend some time together. I'd like to get to know you better before I form a real opinion about you; and that opinion will be fair. I've forgiven you for the Chitauri, though there's really nothing to forgive, since it wasn't actually your fault. I...I'm rambling. Sorry, Loki, I never do this. But the offer is still there if you want to go out after lunch."

Loki sat quietly as Natasha spoke. She's not mad at him? She wants to spend time with him?

"F-for real?" He asked just to double check that she wasn't just joking.

"Absolutely."

A smile spread across Loki's face and Natasha's soon matched his. "Yes, please! I'd really like that!"

"Great!" Natasha gently squeezed Loki's fingers just before their food arrived.

—-

"Do you really have to have that thing in the playroom?" Steve frowned at the lie detector machine. Tony and Bruce finally finished building it. They brought it to the playroom and put it on the table, then Bruce immediately curled up in Tony's comfy chair and fell asleep. Despite still being in his adult headspace, he's so used to taking naps that he has at least one nap everyday regardless of his age. He gets cranky without his naps.

Tony sighed. "I don't want to have it anywhere. I don't want Loki to need this to prove to Thor that New York wasn't his fault. But Thor won't believe him any other way, so as soon as Thor gets back, we'll hook Loki up here and ask him if he led the Chitauri to earth. He'll say no and the machine will say he's telling the truth and we'll donate this to the police or something. I don't want it in the tower any longer than need be." Tony sat next to Bucky and Steve on the couch seeing as his chair was stolen from him.

"But does it need to be in here? When is Thor even coming back? Can't you put it in a closet or something and take it back out when he's here?"

"I guess so. Do you or Bucky wanna put it in the hall closet for me? It's really heavy. Bruce and I could barely get it up here."

"I got it," Bucky volunteered. "Gotta get you your next dose of medicine anyway, Stevie." He gently pushed Steve off his lap and grabbed the lie detector machine to put it away.

"When is Loki coming back?" Steve asked, coughing slightly. He hates being sick so much. He got bored of resting and staying in bed almost immediately after he woke up big from a nap.

"I'm not sure. He and Natasha are gonna spend some time together to get to know each other I guess."

Bucky returned with a cup full of liquid medicine. Steve scrunched up his face as he swallowed it.

"Are you sure he should be out here, Bucky? Shouldn't he be resting?"

"He should, but he was gonna come out here with or without me saying it's okay. He even threatened to lock me in the closet if he had to stay in bed! He got a swat for threatening me."

Steve blushed. "Could you two not talk like I'm not here, please?"

"Sorry, kiddo," Tony chuckled.

Steve leaned against Bucky and stared at the TV screen that played an episode of Chopped.

—-

**Someone needs to come carry Loki upstairs.**

Bucky looked at the text from Natasha in the caregiver group chat they have—conveniently named _Adult Children Taking Care of Little Children._

He stood with Steve in his arms and placed him on the bed in his room. He had fallen asleep sometime during the 7th episode of a Chopped marathon. Tony was thrilled to not have to watch it anymore—he's not fond of food-related shows. They either make him hungry or piss him off when people horrendously screw up a dish. Even he could cook better than most of those people and he cooks maybe once every 3 years!

Bucky stepped out of the elevator in the garage and walked over to Natasha's car. She was sat in the driver's seat, playing some game on her phone. Loki was asleep in the back, drooling into Sleipnir's fur. Bucky chuckled and lifted him into his arms.

"Hey," Natasha greeted, kissing Bucky's cheek quick before grabbing bags from the trunk. "How's Steve."

"A little better. He's asleep now. How was Loki?"

"Good! He's really sweet. I took him to the toy store and he picked out a bunch of toys for the other boys. I made him put some back and pick a few for himself."

"So you like him now?"

"He's growing on me. I'd say on a scale of 1-10, my like for him is a 7 and a half."

Bucky smiled. He's glad Natasha's getting along with Loki now.

—-

"So how was Loki?" Tony asked when Natasha got settled on the couch.

"Good. We had lunch, then went to the arcade for a bit, got us both some new clothes, and we finished with a trip to the toy store. Loki picked out some presents for the boys."

Tony smiled. He likes Loki a lot. In different circumstances, he might have adopted Loki as his little. Alongside Bruce, of course. He would never give Bruce up for anything in any world.

"There were a few times today, though...Loki was recognized. People got angry. They mostly just shouted at him, but it still scared him. There was one a-hole that tried to hit him, but I took care of it. I'm not allowed in that arcade anymore."

"Uncle Tony?" Came a quiet voice.

Everyone turned toward the voice to see Loki had woken up from his impromptu nap. Bruce jumped up and went to hug him. Loki returned the hug, though he looked very guilty.

"Yeah, Loki? What's up? Did you have fun with Tasha?"

"Yeah, I had a lot of fun. I wanted to ask a question, though.... When...when you finish the lie detector...will I have to take it publicly for the rest of the world to see?"

"No, Loki. I wouldn't force you do that."

"I know you wouldn't force me.... Can I though? Nobody trusts me anymore and they hurt me when I go outside. I want them to believe me about what happened. I don't want to be stuck in here all the time and afraid to go outside because I'll get yelled at or beat up if I do."

"Nobody will bear you up as long as you're with us, Loki. We'll all protect you. ...are you sure you want to do it publicly?" Loki nodded, firmly. He wants to be trusted. Maybe Heimdall will even see it and tell Odin and he can tell the rest of Asgard! Maybe he'll be allowed to go back some day. "Okay, then. I'll make arrangements for you to take it and be filmed, if that's okay." Loki nodded that it would be okay. "Thor will be there when you take it. I doubt you want to do it twice."

"Thank you, Uncle Tony."

"You're welcome, Loki." Tony smiled and ruffled Loki's hair, making him pout.

"Hey, Loki," Natasha said. "Do you want to come make cookies with me, Bruce, Clint, and Phil? We're making a whole bunch."

"Okay!" Loki smiled and followed Natasha and the others to the kitchen.

—-

Thor didn't come home for two weeks. He had another battle after the first one, then had to spend time in Asgard.

Finally, he returned and the day arrived.

Everyone dressed up in nice clothes. The kids weren't happy about the suits they had to wear, but they wore them anyway and even fought against their headspace to be big for the occasion.

Bucky loaded the lie detector machine into Tony's car—they had so many people that they had to take two cars. Tony, Thor, Bruce, and Loki were in one car and the other had Bucky, Natasha, Phil, Clint, and Steve.

Tony led the way and Bucky followed. They parked in the extremely crowded parking lot of a daily news building. Journalists and news reporters were everywhere. There were also regular civilians, screaming that Loki should receive the death penalty for what he did and anyone who supported him should as well.

Bucky carried in the lie detector machine. Despite being in their adult headspaces, the kids were terrified of all the people screaming about death, etc., so Thor carried Steve, Loki, and Clint inside while Tony carried Bruce.

"Hello. I'm Lisa Miles. You'll be on my stage today."

"Okay. Can we have a few minutes to calm these guys down first?" Bucky asked, aggravated. She can clearly see that four members of their party are uncomfortable—they're shaking and Bruce even cried into Tony's shoulder!

"Of course. I'll show you to the dressing rooms and you can calm them down there."

Bucky took Steve from Thor and Phil took Clint. They both struggled to be placed on their feet so they could walk. Loki and Bruce let themselves be carried.

Once in the dressing room, Natasha handed out bottles of water, which helped to calm the kids down somewhat.

"I know that was very scary and overwhelming," Phil stated. "But nobody will hurt any of us. We're all okay. Today is going to prove that Loki is innocent and, ideally, people won't continue to act like this afterwards. We'll go out the back when we leave so people don't scare you guys again, okay?"

Clint and Steve seemed perfectly calm now and ready to go out and face the day. Bruce was still hiding his face in Tony's jacket, though he had stopped crying. Loki was upset, though Thor's arms around him helped to relax him somewhat.

"Th-they said I...and all of you! d-deserve the death penalty...." Loki choked back a sob.

"You don't. None of us do," Tony said, firmly. "What happened wasn't your fault. You shouldn't get the death penalty for something you didn't cause. I won't let anybody hurt you, Loki. I promise."

Loki swiped at his eyes, but finally nodded. He took a deep breath. "I'm ready."

—-

"I'm Lisa Miles, here with the Avengers and Loki Laufeyson. Loki is currently being hooked up to the lie detector machine that Tony Stark and Bruce Banner built. I will be asking questions that Loki will answer. If he answers truthfully, this light here will light up green. If he lies, it will be red. To prove that this works: Loki, what colour is this pen?"

Lisa held up a black pen.

"Black."

The light flashed green.

"And what colour is this one?" She held up a red pen.

"Blue."

The light flashed red.

"Okay. You can all go sit in the reserved seats in the audience and then we'll get started."

The Avengers were the only people in the audience—they didn't want people to yell and scare Loki or cause the machine to be wrong if they ask questions while Loki's in the process of answering one. A camera sat on the stage, looking at Loki, and broadcasting everything live. Over a million people were watching.

"Is your name Loki Laufeyson?"

"Yes." Green.

"Are you an Asgardian like Thor?"

"No." Green.

"Are you a frost giant?"

"Yes." Green.

"When you came to earth, were you classified as little?"

"Yes." Green.

"Do you have a caregiver?"

"No." Red. "Technically, Thor is my caregiver, but neither of us want that." Green.

In the audience, Thor's face fell.

"Who would you rather be your caregiver?"

"Do I have to answer that?"

Lisa started to say yes, but Tony quickly stood and interrupted. "We came here to talk about New York, not about Loki's status as little. Please get back to New York."

"Of course. I apologize. Loki, did you lead the Chitauri here?"

The moment everyone's been waiting for.

"No."

Green.

—-

Loki curled into a ball in the corner of the playroom. He thinks everyone seeing him take that test made how he's treated worse. When they left to go home, people screamed at him and threw things at him and someone even grabbed his hair and tried to attack him!

"Hey," Phil whispered, crouching next to Loki and gently touching his shoulder. "This is all going to die down soon. Everyone who was in the parking lot today had lost somebody, so they were taking it out on you when they shouldn't have. You proved that it wasn't your fault. There are people online—whole groups and communities!—saying they believe in you and forgive you and people should be nice to you."

Loki didn't respond.

“Everything’s going to be okay, Loki. You did good today.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ps: thank you all for reading this, i appreciate you all so much <3   
> have a great day and here’s to hoping this semi-consistent updating schedule keeps up until the end of this fic


	28. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I’m Mrs. Nesbit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not particularly happy with this but here it is.   
> hopefully i’ll finish this by the time i finish school this year. a few more chapters  
> we’re getting there  
> enjoy   
> (sorry)

Two months passed since Loki took the lie detector test for everyone to see. True to Phil's word, the hate for him died down. He's able to go outside without getting yelled at or attacked. People barely give him a second glance nowadays. He loves getting to go outside to the park and play with the other kids and go to group therapy and even to the mall!

Thor apologized for how he treated Loki and started to be nice and attempt to make up for his behavior, though it still hurt him to know that Loki doesn't actually want him as his caregiver. He wouldn't say anything to Loki, though. He knows Loki won't be truthful with him because he doesn't want to upset Thor. Maybe Thor could talk to Tony about what he should do.... Tony and Loki get along really well.

"What are you thinking about, Thor?" Clint asked. "Poptarts? Cake? Beer? I could go for some beer. Can we have beer? I won't tell if you won't!"

"No, Clinton. You need to ask Phil if you want beer. I was thinking about Loki.... Do you know where Stark is? I want to ask him something."

"I think he's putting Bruce down for a nap. He's probably either in the nursery or down in his workshop. Can I do anything for you?"

"No. Thank you, though. Maybe if Phil says it's okay I'll bring you some beer from Asgard next time I go."

Clint perked up. "Okay! I'm gonna ask him when he gets back with Loki and Steve. When you're done talking to Tony you should come play video games with me. We can play Mario Kart; just make sure you don't throw the remote into the TV. Or throw the TV out the window. Again."

Thor snorted. "We shall see."

  
"Hey, goldilocks," Tony scolded. "What did I tell you about sneaking up on me in the workshop?"

"I apologize, Stark. I wanted to talk to you about Loki."

Tony's brow furrowed. "What about Loki?"

Thor shifted from foot to foot.

"Sit down. Come on, Thor, you're making me nervous."

Thor sat heavily in Tony's only wooden chair. Tony was surprised it didn't break.

"Loki doesn't want me as his caregiver. He never told me, but when he took that lie detector test, he said neither of us want me as his caregiver...."

"Well, you _don't_ want to be his caregiver, right?"

Thor groaned. "I didn't at first. Now I don't mind it so much because he's proved that he didn't do New York and we get along better, but...I miss battles. I miss going to the nine realms and participating in battles and activities and everything on Asgard. I can't do any of that as much as I want with Loki. I love being here with all of you and the kids, but I miss my old life."

"Understandable. There are times I miss being able to work whenever I want and do whatever I want, but I love Bruce and the other kids. I know they need me there and I can't be in my workshop nonstop."

Thor sighed heavily. "I don't know what to do, Stark. Loki and I have been getting along, but he doesn't like having me as his caregiver."

Tony hummed, thoughtfully. "You could always talk to Loki about it and try to resolve it with him, but...I was thinking...Loki and I like each other. He and Bruce like each other. If you and Loki and Bruce all agree...I can be his caregiver. We'd just have to sign some papers over at S.H.I.E.L.D...."

Thor's eyes widened. "Really? You would take him on as your responsibility? You already have so many responsibilities, though...."

Tony shrugged. "I don't mind. If you're okay with it.... I'll have to ask Bruce first, and if he says okay, then we'll talk to Loki and see what he thinks."

"I...no, Stark, I couldn't ask you to do that."

"You're not asking—I'm offering."

Thor was silent for a moment. "I'll have to ask the Allfather. Odin wanted me as Loki's caregiver."

Tony nodded. "Okay. Let me know and then I'll talk to Bruce."

"Okay. Thank you very much, Stark."

"No problem."

—-

"Odin, I have come to ask you something about Loki."

"I know. Heimdall told me. You think it is wise to allow Tony Stark to take on responsibility of Loki?"

"He offered. He said it wouldn't be that big of a change because he takes care of Loki so much anyway. We all help take care of all the kids. Littles are connected to their caregivers—Loki's not connected to me. We get along now, but he doesn't act the same with me as any of the other littles I've ever met act with their caregivers. Loki is more attached to Stark than to me."

Odin sighed. "If you think this is what's best."

Thor inclined his head slightly. "Thank you, father. I have one more question, though—will Loki ever be allowed to come back to Asgard? To visit? Surely Heimdall told you about the lie detector test he took—what happened in New York wasn't his fault. He was kidnapped and tortured and mind controlled."

"I have been made aware. Offer my apologies to Loki. He will be allowed to come to Asgard as long as he is with you, for no more than two days at a time."

Thor nodded again. "Thank you, father. I will return to Midgard now."

—-

Tony walked into Bruce's lab. "Bruce?"

Bruce jumped, startled at the sound of Tony's voice. He turned and walked over to Tony, rubbing his head against Tony's chest.

Tony wrapped his arms around Bruce and squeezed. "Hey, buddy. How're you doing today?"

"Good. What are you doing here, Tony?"

"I want to talk to you about something."

Bruce looked at Tony with nervous eyes. "About what?"

"Let's go out for lunch and we'll talk there, okay? You're almost out of time in here, anyway." Bruce can only stay in the lab for a maximum of five hours at a time and he needs at least a two hour break before returning to the lab. "When we get back you'll be due for a nap, then you can come back in here."

Bruce pouted. "But I'm not tired."

"Not yet. You'll be ready when we get home after lunch."

"Fine."

"C'mon, bud. Let's go get changed, then we can go get lunch."

Bruce looked down at his pajamas—he didn't want to get dressed before coming to his lab, so he went down in his fuzzy Lion King pajama pants and an old t-shirt of Tony's.

"Kay."

"You want help?"

Bruce shook his head. "I can do it, Tony. I'll meet you in the garage in a few minutes."

"Alright, buddy. See you in a few."

—-

"What do you want to eat, Bruce?"

"Um.... I dunno.... Can you pick for me?"

"Sure."

The waiter came over and asked if they were ready to order.

"We sure are," Tony stated. "I'm going to have a bacon cheese burger with curly fries and a coke. He's going to have a pesto chicken salad and a cup of blueberry flavored tea. Can he also get a glass of water with that, please?"

"Of course. I'll be right back with your drinks."

"Thank you."

Tony put his hand over Bruce's clasped hands on the table. "You okay, buddy?"

"Mhmm. What did you wanna talk about?"

Tony took a deep breath. "So...I offered Thor something really big. ...Loki doesn't like having Thor as a caregiver."

"I know. He says Thor doesn't really take care of him like a caregiver, which I can understand. He's more of someone who's neutral trying to being a caregiver. He does good with babysitting for a short period of time every once in a while."

Tony nodded, thoughtfully. Now that he thinks about it, he can see it too. It makes sense. "Thor wants to go back to his own life and battles and come to the tower when he's able."

"Okay.... So what did you offer?"

"I offered to take on Loki as my little. I would be his caregiver. You would be his little brother. But we'll only do this if you agree. We haven't told Loki yet, so he wouldn't be upset if you said no. You don't have to agree if you don't want."

Bruce bit his lip. "I don't know...."

"You can think about it for a while if you'd like. There's absolutely no pressure and I won't care what you decide. Thor won't either."

Bruce looked down at his hands. This is a lot to think about. What if he says no and ends up making Tony and Thor and Loki miserable and sad? Or angry? What if he says yes and ends up changing his mind later? He doesn't want life to change drastically with Tony taking on Loki as his little alongside himself. What if Tony develops a favorite? He's heard stories about people with two or more littles having a favorite and the others get neglected. He wouldn't want himself or Loki to be neglected or sad or lonely! Life is perfect the way it is now.

"What are you thinking about, Brucie?"

"I don't wanna make anyone sad or angry.... I don't wanna get replaced...or have Loki be neglected or something...."

"Bruce...." Tony stood up and walked around the table, bringing the smaller man into his arms and hugging him tightly. "That would never happen. Any of it. First of all, I already said Thor and I won't be upset by your decision. Second...nobody could ever replace you in a _trillion_ years! You're my best friend. You're my baby boy. I love you. I love your cousins too. You're all individual people and I love you all for different things. I could never love anybody the way I love you, just like I could never love anybody the way I love Steve or Clint. And Bruce...nobody's going to neglect Loki, least of all me. I know he's still struggling with his PTSD and everything and he has some special needs. I'm always going to help him to the best of my abilities whether he's my little or not. If he is...it would really just be a change of labels and a matter of signing some papers. I'd be his caregiver, but I already take care of him as much as I take care of you. It wouldn't be that big of a change."

Bruce took everything in for a moment before slowly nodding. "I think he trusts you more as a caregiver than he does Thor. You do more for him. Not that Thor doesn't want to, but he's not a caregiver, so I don't think he really knows how. I don't think Thor was ever tested—Odin just pushed that responsibility onto him without knowing." Bruce pulled away from Tony's hug. "I think...if Loki agrees...you should sign the papers. I'd love to have him as a big brother!"

"Are you sure, Bruce? I don't want you to just be saying this because you think it'll make me, Thor, Loki...whoever happy. I want you to be happy too."

"I'm sure. It might take a little bit of getting used to, but...I'm sure."

"Okay, then. I'll talk to Loki later." Tony kissed Bruce's forehead and sat back in his seat as their food arrived.

—-

"Loki?" Bruce knocked on the trickster's bedroom door.

"Come in."

Loki lay on his tummy in his bed—he finally got his own personal floor like everyone else!—reading a book. It looked like _Harry Potter_.

"Um...so, Tony and Thor are going to come in here, later today probably, to talk about something really big. I wanted to tell you now and give you some time to think about it before they come and tell you. I'll summarize their reasoning too."

Loki sat up and put his bookmark in the book—it is indeed _Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban_. "What is it?"

"So, um...Tony offered to adopt you as his little. You don't have to say yes, and you don't have to decide yet, but...yeah. Thor wants to go back to battles and stuff on Asgard and come here when he's able. You don't like having him as a caregiver anyway because he doesn't really know how to take care of you when you're little. Tony's really good at caring for you and you like him, right? So they figured they'd ask if you wanted Tony as a caregiver instead of Thor. Tony asked me at lunch today and I said I'm okay with it. I am, but it's your choice."

Loki was silent for a minute. "Thank you for telling me this, Bruce. I'll...I'll think about it. I'll let Tony and Thor know my decision when they come in later."

"You don't have to decide today. They'll give you time."

"I know. Thank you for being okay with it if I decide to accept."

Bruce smiled shyly. "I have to go now. Tony said I could have 20 minutes in the lab before I take a nap. It's been about 30 minutes since he said that, so he's probably about to start looking for me once he sees I'm not in my room. We could hang out later if you want! You could come to my lab and we could do an experiment together or we can watch a movie or something."

"I'd like that. Enjoy your nap, Bruce."

—-

"Hey, Loki! I was just about to come look for you!" Tony smiled up at the trickster when he walked into the common room. "I was just checking on Bruce. JARVIS said he was having a nightmare."

Loki cringed slightly. Nightmares are the worst. He still has them at least three times a week. "Is he okay?"

"Yeah. He's nervous about the mission Bucky's going on tomorrow. He wanted some time alone, but I think he's gonna fall back to sleep soon."

Loki slowly nodded, shifting.

"What's up, Loki?"

Loki took a deep breath. "Bruce told me about the offer you made Thor. To...to adopt me."

"I see.... And? What do you think?"

"I can't accept. I know Thor doesn't like being my caregiver. I don't either. I know Bruce said he'd be okay with me being his brother, but...I can't. I don't want to force you to take care of me. I know it's a big responsibility. I don't want Bruce and I's relationship to change if I became his brother. I don't want my relationship with you to change if you were my caregiver...."

"Loki...if that's the only reason you can't accept, then you have nothing to worry about. You're not forcing me; I'm offering. None of our relationships will change—just the title. Rather than _Uncle Tony_ , I'd be your daddy...or you could just call me _Tony_ if 'daddy' makes you uncomfortable. The only thing that would really change is I would be the one to sign all your papers and take you to doctors appointments instead of Thor."

Loki bit his lip. "Can I think a little longer?" He whispered.

"Of course, Loki. Let me know when you make a decision."

"Tony?" Bruce called.

"You'll let me know when you decide?" Tony checked, slowly walking backwards. Loki nodded. "Alright. I better go make sure Bruce is okay, then. Duty calls." Tony shrugged and turned on his heel to run to Bruce's room.

—-

"Hello, Loki!"

"Hi, Tori."

"How are you?"

"Um...okay I think. I've been thinking a lot, though."

"Thinking about what?"

Loki sighed as he explained Tony's offer.

"I don't know what to do.... I know Thor would be happy if I said yes because he could go back to Asgard and battles and whatnot, but...what if Tony and Bruce aren't happy? They said they would be, but what if it's a lie? Or what if they get fed up with me later and send me away? I know I'll be sent away eventually, but I think I'll be able to handle it better if Tony's not my caregiver and Bruce isn't...my brother."

"Loki...why do you think you'll be sent away?"

"Well...." Loki and Tori had been working on Loki's opinion of himself and getting him to love himself. Loki's not quite there yet, but he doesn't have the same amount of self loathing he used to. He absolutely despised himself when he first came to the Avengers and knew...thought it was only a matter of time before he was sent away, to another caregiver or back to Asgard's prisons. Now...he thinks the Avengers might actually like him. He and Natasha go shopping or bake together. Phil reads books with him and Bucky watches movies with him. He likes to watch Tony and Bruce when they're working, but he also likes watching movies with them. He goes on walks with Thor and play fights with him. He plays video games with Clint and watches cartoons or videos on YouTube. Sometimes he describes animals or beasts from Asgard or other places and Steve draws them. Steve is really talented. He has fun with them all. And they have fun with him too...at least he thinks they do.

"I don't know.... When I moved in...I was so sure they would send me away. None of them really wanted me there. They all hated me. I didn't do anything, so...I figured it was only a matter of time."

"And now?"

"Well...I spend time with all the Avengers. We have fun. I'm...still scared at times that I'll be sent away...maybe they still hate me after all...but I'm starting to doubt that."

"I highly doubt that they hate you! You should hear how Steve talks about you and how much fun you two have! I can tell Bucky cares about you too and likes having you around. And Tony when he drops you off. Bruce clearly loves you. I don't think they'd send you away."

"Do you think I should say yes, then?"

"It's up to you, but I think it'll be good for all of you. You, Thor, Tony, and Bruce. I really do."

Loki nodded slowly.

—-

"Tony?" Loki asked quietly. Bruce is asleep on the floor.

"Yeah? Oh! Hold that though, Loki, Phil's calling."

"O-okay...."

"Hey, Phil. Woah, what's going on? WHAT?! Is he okay?! I'm going to call the best doctors I know to take care of him. I'll get the kids and be right there."

"What's happening?" Loki worried.

"Bucky's in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s hospital. He's hurt. Go get your shoes on while I get Clint. Can you grab the diaper bag next to the door?"

Loki didn't get a chance to answer before Tony was running to Clint's room. He returned with a whiny half-asleep toddler on his hip and immediately scooped Bruce onto his other hip.

"Wanna sleep," Clint whined. "Want Daddy!"

"We're going to see Daddy very soon, Clint. You can go back to sleep in the car."

"What happened?" Loki asked.

"On the mission...Bucky had his arm cut off...."

"What?!" Loki and Clint demanded. Bruce was still asleep, but he squirmed at the screams.

"Shh.... He was taken care of as much as he could be on the helicarrier, but he's in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s hospital now. They're trying to stabilize him. I'm gonna call some better doctors to take care of him."

"Is he gonna be okay?" Loki asked.

"Honestly? I don't know. I hope so."

"What about Aunt Tasha? And Steve?"

“They’re both okay. Come on. We have to go now.”

—-

Tony ran into S.H.I.E.L.D.’s hospital carrying Bruce, Loki and Clint right behind him.

Clint immediately threw himself at Natasha, hugging her tight. “Are you okay, Aunt Tasha? Is Uncle Bucky okay?”

“I’m fine, malen'kiy yastreb. Just some scratches and a sprained wrist.”

Clint heard a sob come from Steve and turned to see him crying into Phil’s chest.

Clint hugged Steve. “It’s gonna be okay, Stevie. Uncle Tony called some really good doctors to fix Uncle Bucky.”

“Want Daddy,” Steve croaked, turning into Clint’s chest.

“It’ll be okay, Stevie. You’ll see him soon.” Clint looked up at Tony and the other adults. He hopes he didn’t just lie to his baby cousin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> every language teacher ever: don’t use google translate!!  
> me: google translate is friend (:
> 
> the bit of russian at the end translates to “little hawk” (allegedly)
> 
> feel free to let me know if you hate anything i did in this chapter. (really, please do. i’m always a slut for comments)


	29. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “i love buckbeak and antoinette stark” -me in a group chat with my friends and my mom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i was infinity war today (THERE WILL NOT BE ANY SPOILERS FOR THAT MOVIE IN THIS CHAPTER OR ANY OTHERS IN THIS FIC) and let me just say...fuck  
> it hurt me. if you go see it, bring tissues  
> (i told that to my 7 year old brother today and he said “why, because i might sneeze?” and i’m like “yeah or you MIGHT BURST INTO TEARS JUST AT THE SIGHT OF NATASHA ROMANOFF JUST BC SHES SO BEAUTIFUL”)  
> anyway. yeah. chapter. it’s...i mean there’s words there and it’s over 3000 words long so? we’ll get to the end some day. i was originally gonna have bucky’s doctor be doctor strange then i just decided nah and now his doctor is just like “lol i exist but who cares about me ;—;”   
> alright i’m gonna sleep now bc i have a headache and have school tomorrow (ew)  
> (but on the plus side: i might get a job at mcdonald’s soon. not where i wanted to work but i mean...money’s money. k goodnight, enjoy. don’t forget your tissues if you see infinity war)

Steve leaned against Tony, sucking on his pacifier as he stared at Bucky's chest moving up and down, slowly. Bandages are wrapped around the stump of his left arm.

Steve hadn't left Bucky's side in four days. The doctors Tony called in did what they could. They said Bucky should be fine, but he's in a coma at the moment. If he doesn't wake up in a week then they'll worry, but for now, he's fine.

Steve was reminded of all the times he spent in hospitals as a kid. Bucky was always there with him, right next to his bed. Steve wants—no, needs to do the same now.

Natasha and Phil had forced the kids to go home. Tony's staying with Steve because everyone refuses to leave the worried, scared baby alone. _How could Thor have even suggested that?!_

For the past few days, Tony was tossing ideas around in his head. Maybe if Bucky wants him to he'll make him an arm to replace the one he lost. A metal one. It'll be really cool! He already has a bunch of stuff planned out for it. He's just waiting for Bucky to wake up and agree to it, then he needs to take some measurements, then—

 _Grumble_.

"Steve? Was that your tummy?"

 _Grumble_.

Steve sucked harder on his pacifier, not answering his uncle. He hasn't spoken in days. He hasn't eaten either...! God! Tony's awful! He forgot to feed Steve! Steve has been having bottles of pedialyte because he refused to eat normal food, but he hasn't even had a bottle in at least a few hours!

"I'm sorry, kiddo. I was caught up in my thoughts. I'll get you a bottle right now. You sit here, alright? I'm not leaving the room."

Steve pulled Bear onto his lap from where he had been on the floor next to the chair.

Tony sighed as he gently removed Steve from his lap and went to prepare his bottle. He got himself a water bottle and a granola bar too.

"Steve, can you stay right here and drink your bottle for me? I need to go use the bathroom. I'll be back in just a minute. I promise."

Steve didn't answer, but he noticeably froze at the thought of being alone with Bucky in this state.

"I'll be right back!" Tony ruffled Steve's hair affectionately before quickly running to the bathroom connected to Bucky's room.

Steve stared at Bucky with wide eyes. He hasn't been alone with him since this happened. What if he hurts him by accident? What if he breathes too hard and it hurts him? What if, what if, what if....

"Daddy?" Steve whispered around his pacifier.

Steve gasped, his pacifier falling out of his mouth.

Bucky's fingers twitched on his right hand!

"Daddy?!"

Bucky groaned almost inaudibly.

"Unca' Tony! Unca' Tony!" Steve ran to the bathroom and knocked hard. "It Daddy!"

The door flew open to reveal Tony sat on the toilet. "Steve! Wha—what's happened?"

"Daddy movin'!"

"Okay. Go push the red button next to his bed while I finish in here. And please close the door. I'll be out in a second."

Steve ran to Bucky's bed and pushed the button the call a doctor.

Bucky kept shifting in bed and making small noises of pain.

"Daddy? Doctor comin'."

Bucky gasped as he woke up, sitting up in bed.

"Daddy!" Steve reached out towards Bucky, but stopped before touching him.

"I...." Bucky croaked.

Steve grabbed one of his bottles of water from by the sink—it's the only cup he could find that has water in it—and helped Bucky drink some.

Bucky cleared his throat before trying to speak again.

"I...am Mrs. Nesbit...."

Steve stared at Bucky in shock for a moment before bursting into tears.

Tony, who had been watching from the doorway of the bathroom, ran over and hugged the crying toddler tightly.

"Oh, Stevie! I'm sorry, baby. I thought it would be funny; I didn't know it would make you cry...."

"Really, Buck?" Tony asked. "You've been in a coma for four days. You're _missing your left arm!_ You really didn't think saying that would make Steve cry?"

"In my defense, I've been in a coma for four days, so I didn't have to think at all."

Tony sighed. He squeezed Steve tighter. "It's okay, kiddo. Daddy was just being silly." Tony glared at Bucky and sat with Steve on his lap, cuddling him.

The doctor entered then to check over Bucky. She said he's as okay as he could be after having his arm severed from his torso. He'll probably be very weak and tired for a while, but he'll be okay. She gave him some painkillers, then left, promising to have a nurse bring in some food for them all soon.

"As stupid as you may be sometimes, Buck, I will make you a new arm if you want," Tony stated.

"A new—what? How?"

"Out of metal. I got some really strong crap delivered a week ago. I was going to use it for a new Iron Man suit, but I have better ideas for making you an arm. It's bulletproof and I'm going to add some upgrades for fighting."

"You think I'm gonna be able to fight again?"

"Well...maybe not for a little while. You need time to heal, then get adjusted to no arm, or the metal arm, and you need to train to get your strength back up and get used to fighting with or without the arm...but yeah. Eventually, I think you'll be able to."

"What kind of upgrades did you have in mind?"

Tony perked up, glad that Bucky seems interested. He scooted the chair closer to the bed and dove into an excited explanation of all his ideas. Bucky even threw out a few ideas. Steve sat on Tony's lap, grumpy. Bucky's his daddy! He missed him! He wants Bucky's attention even if Bucky upset him before.

Sighing, Steve sucked on his pacifier and leaned back against Tony's chest for a nap. He'll get Bucky's attention later.

—-

"Uncle Bucky!" Clint ran into Bucky's hospital room, but stopped at the sight of his left arm—or rather, the lack of his left arm.

"Hey, Clint," Bucky smiled. "C'mere. I want a hug."

Clint swallowed nervously. He didn't move. He doesn't want to hurt Bucky....

"Hey, what's the matter? I don't bite."

Phil gently pushed Clint forward.

Clint stopped next to Bucky's bed. Bucky pulled him down to sit next to him and squeezed him.

"Are you okay, Uncle Bucky?" Loki asked from where he was in Thor's arms.

"I will be."

"I brought this from Asgard," Thor explained, placing a small jar on the bedside table. "It is to help with the healing process: it helps with pain and prevents scarring. It is the same salve Odin have to Phil after...."

"Cool. Thank you, Thor." Bucky smiled.

"Home?" Bruce asked.

"Not yet. I'll get to go home soon. The doctors say maybe another week or two."

Bruce pouted. He wanted Uncle Bucky to come home today!

"I know. I don't wanna be here either, Bruce. I'd rather be at home with all of you, but I have to stay here to get better."

Steve whined and began moving around in the playpen Tony brought for him to sleep in while Bucky's here.

"Thor, bring him to me, please? He can lay on my chest."

"Are you sure?" Thor checked. He doesn't want Bucky to get hurt.

"Yeah. I want my baby."

"Well...okay." Thor lifted Steve from the playpen and carefully put him on Bucky's chest. Steve slowly opened his eyes and smiled widely when he saw Bucky smiling down at him.

"Daddy," he mumbled, wrapping his arms around his torso.

"Hey, baby. Wanna give Mrs. Nesbit a kiss?"

Steve began bawling, which only served to make all of his cousins cry as well.

"Dammit, Bucky," Tony muttered.

—-

"Hey, Loki. What's up?" Tony looked up from the blueprint he had been working on for Bucky's arm.

"Um.... Remember the...the offer you made?"

"Yes, of course. Offer's still on the table anytime."

"I..." _Come on, Loki, just say it. Say it before Tony changes his mind and takes it back!_ "Want to accept it."

Tony froze, wondering if he's hearing things. A smile spread across his face. "Are you sure? 100% positive?"

"Y-yes. I'm positive."

Tony's smile grew. "Okay. I'll get the papers tomorrow. Just a few signatures and then you're mine."

Loki offered a small smile. "Okay. Thank you, Tony. I appreciate it."

"Of course, Loki. Hey, wanna help me out down here?"

"Sure!"

"Great. Pull up a chair."

—-

Bruce curled against Natasha's chest, sucking on a pacifier while watching _The Lion King._ Bucky's coming home today! Everybody's really excited and happy! Tony's putting the finishing touches on his arm. Loki—Bruce's new big brother—is helping him. Bruce is happy that Loki accepted and decided to let Tony adopt him. He knows Tony and Thor are happy too. He hopes Loki is happy, but knows he's probably more worried than he is happy. Bruce is worried too, but knows Tony has plenty of love to go around!

Clint is sat on the floor, coloring pictures for Bucky.

Bruce slid off of Natasha's lap and sat next to Clint. He tugged on his shirt sleeve.

"Hi, Brucie. You wanna color too?"

Bruce nodded.

"Want plain paper or a coloring book?"

Bruce pointed at the stack of plain paper in the middle of the coffee table.

Clint gave Bruce a few pieces of paper and put the crayons in between them.

Bruce grabbed a tan crayon, a brown crayon, and a silver crayon and got to work.

—-

"Are you sure he's ready to go home?" Steve asked the doctor.

"What, you want me to stay here forever?" Bucky teased.

"No! I-I just wanna know that you're healthy and you're okay.... I don't want you to leave before you're 100% okay."

"Bucky is fine, Steve," the doctor promised. "He still needs to rest, but he can do that at home. No running around or excitement for a while still. I'll come over in a week to check up on him again."

Steve dug his nails into his wrist. He's not sure his family will be able to handle 'no excitement.' But he misses them and he knows Bucky misses them too and vice versa. He wants to go home. If the doctor thinks he's okay to go home....

Steve nodded.

"Okay. Do you need help getting changed, Bucky?"

Bucky shook his head. "I'm good. Do _you_ need help?"

"No!" Steve has been forcing himself to be big for the past few days. He doesn't want to annoy Bucky or be a burden. He should be able to be big anytime! He shouldn't need help getting dressed. He shouldn't need to wear diapers!

"Babe, your shirt is backwards. C'mere."

"No! I can do it!" Steve took a big step away from Bucky and started to take his shirt off to turn it the right way, but his arms got stuck.

"Steven, stay still. Let me help you." Bucky stopped putting his shoes on (velcro sneakers since tying shoelaces would be very hard with one arm) and walked over to Steve. "Keep your arms straight. Okay, now move your right one back...and your left. There you go. All fixed!" Bucky dragged Steve back to the bed and sat with him on his lap.

Steve tried to squirm away, but Bucky wrapped his arm tightly around his waist which kept him in place. Steve immediately stopped moving, not wanting to hurt Bucky.

"Hey, Stevie. You okay?"

"'M fine, Buck...."

"You sure?"

"Yes."

"Okay. You want a bottle?"

"No. I'm not little."

Bucky's lips pursed. "You sure do seem it. Cranky and stubborn...yeah, sounds like my little Stevie."

"Shut up...." Steve rested his head against Bucky's chest. "I wanna go home."

"Soon. Natasha's on her way."

"Okay.... Bucky, are things gonna change?"

"Of course not! Why would anything change?"

"Well..."

"Because I don't have an arm? So what? That doesn't affect my ability to care for you or-or love you! Maybe it'll be a bit difficult to dress you or change you or carry you, but only for a little while. Tony's working on finishing my new arm, then we just have to wait for the doctor to say I can put it on. Nothing's going to change, Stevie."

"What about baths?"

Bucky laughed at that. "You don't think Tony'd make my arm waterproof? It's going to be _bulletproof_ , Stevie. I'm pretty sure I can give you a bath with it."

"Together?"

"Of course we can still take baths together. With or without my arm. Really, Steve, nothing is going to change. I'll be back to normal in no time."

Steve sighed. There's still so much he's worried and scared about, but talking to Da-Bucky helped a little bit.

"I think you should put a pull-up on before Natasha comes."

Steve blushed, but complied. He doesn't want to wear one because he still feels slightly big (damn Bucky always knowing when he needs to be little and always being able to ease him into his headspace), but he also doesn't want to make a fuss or fight Bucky about it.

—-

"Uncle Bucky, Stevie, you're home!" Clint ran to hug Bucky and Steve.

"Careful, bug," Phil scolded gently.

"Sorry. I just really missed you both!"

"We missed you too, Clint," Bucky smiled and patted the toddler's back.

Thor walked over with Bruce on his hip. Bruce hid his face in Thor's shoulder, waving shyly at Bucky.

"Hey, what are you being shy for?" Bucky teased, tickling Bruce's side. "I'm not gonna bite! Well, maybe.... That is an awfully sweet face you have!" Bucky started kissing Bruce's cheeks, making the baby giggle. Bruce hugged Bucky tightly.

"Missed you."

"I missed you too, Bruce. I missed all of you."

"But you're home now!" Clint smiled. "Brucie and I colored pictures for you, Uncle Bucky."

"Aww, thank you! Let's sit down and you can show me what you colored."

Bucky took Bruce from Thor, balancing him on his hip with his hand under his butt. He sat on the couch with Bruce on his lap.

"Bucky!" Steve scolded. "You're not s'posed to carry anyone!"

"I'm _fine_ , Steve. I'm not made of glass. I can carry Bruce for 5 steps to the couch. He barely even weighs anything."

"But...."

"I'm fine, Steve. Don't worry so much."

"I can't help it...."

"Steven, I am positive that Bucky is okay. If he was not, I don't think he'd be home right now. The salve I gave him probably took away a lot of the pain."

"Exactly! I don't even feel anything, Steve. No pain, I'm just a bit tired at times. I'm okay now, though. Really."

Steve turned before Bucky could see his eyes fill with tears. He doesn't understand!

Steve ran into the elevator and closed it before anyone could follow him.

"I'll go get him," Loki volunteered. He ran into the elevator as soon as it opened back up.

When Loki got outside of the tower, Steve was just a speck in the distance. Loki took off after him, but wasn't nearly as fast as Steve. Loki kept running after Steve, as fast as he could, even though he was quickly becoming exhausted. _He's not used to vigorous running and exercise anymore!_

"Steve!" Loki called. "Please slow down! It's just me! I just wanna—wanna talk...! P-please...I can't run that fast, Steve!"

Loki must have run 3 miles trying to catch Steve, but was always a steady distance behind. He ran out of energy after the 3rd mile. He was already tired and hungry before, but after so much running after not having run like that in ages, he's exhausted.

Loki dropped to the ground, panting.

"Steve...please...."

Steve slowed down when he realized he wasn't being followed anymore. He chanced a glance behind him to see Loki on the ground. Steve was over to him in seconds, kneeling next to the trickster.

"Loki! Are you okay?"

Loki nodded, his breath starting to return. "I'm okay.... Tired."

Steve lifted Loki into his arms, startling him.

"I'm sorry for running.... I'll take you home."

"You're gonna come home too, right? To stay? No more running away?"

"...yeah." Steve doesn't want to go home, but....

He probably worried everyone. Especially Bucky.... God, Bucky's probably freaking out!

"I-I think I can walk now," Loki insisted, squirming in Steve's arms after about half a mile.

"Are you sure?"

Loki nodded, so Steve put him down. "We should probably call the others and let them know we're okay...tell them we're coming back."

"Yeah, probably.... Can you do it, though? And—and tell Bucky I'm sorry for running away like that and we can talk at home if he wants? I don't want to talk about it while we're out...."

"Of course, Steve."

Loki took his phone from his pocket to see 4 missed calls from Tony, 2 from Natasha, 5 from Phil, and 18 from Bucky. Loki decided to call Natasha. She'll be least likely to freak out on him.

"Loki? Did you find Steve?"

"Yeah, Aun—uh, Natasha. We're on our way back now."

Loki heard Bucky in the background. Bucky took the phone from Natasha. "Loki! Put Steve on the phone!"

"Um...Steve says he's sorry for running, but he doesn't want to talk while we're walking home. He said you could talk when we get back. We should be there soon...."

"Loki Laufeyson. Put him on the phone. _Now_."

Loki gulped nervously. He wants Tony....

Loki handed the phone to Steve.

Steve took the phone, but didn't put it to his ear yet. "Are you okay, Loki?"

"I want Tony...."

Steve inwardly sighed. Now he's alone with Loki when he's little and he himself is halfway little, with his angry daddy on the phone.

"Get on my back. I'm gonna run us home."

Steve hung up the phone to put it in his back pocket. He helped Loki onto his back and held him tightly. He ran as fast as he could to get home. He felt Loki hold onto him tighter and press his face against his back.

Loki slid off of Steve's back once in the elevator. As soon as the elevator doors opened, Loki ran to Tony, shaking slightly.

Bucky ran to Steve and pulled him into his chest for a hug. "Steven Grant Rogers, you never do that again! You scared me!"

"I'm sorry, Da—Bucky."

"I think we have some talking to do. But first, you need to apologize to everyone else for scaring them. And to Loki for making him run after you!"

"I'm so sorry, everyone," Steve whispered, looking down at his toes. He ran out without his shoes on. His feet are probably all cut up. Loki did too! "I'm sorry, Loki, for making you run after me. I'm sorry if I scared or worried anyone or if I hurt you, Loki."

"It's okay, Steve," Phil promised. "We forgive you."

Bruce and Clint ran to Steve to hug him. Loki hugged him too, even as he was still in Tony's arms.

"C'mon, Stevie. Let's go upstairs."

"Don't be mean to him, Uncle Bucky," Loki said. "He only ran because he's scared for you."

"I know, Loki. Don't worry; I'm not going to be mean to Steve. He's not even getting a spanking or anything. We're just gonna talk."

"No yelling either. He'll get scared. He's just a baby."

"I know. He'll be fine. We'll come back down later and you can play with him."

Loki hummed and curled into Tony.

"Come on, babe. Let's go." Bucky wrapped his arm around Steve and walked to the elevator. "Press the button for me, please."

Steve's eyes filled with tears as he pressed the up button.

As soon as they stepped out of the elevator Steve began bawling.

"Steve, oh, baby, what's wrong? What's got you so sad?"

Steve's words caught in his throat. He couldn't speak.

"Shh, it's okay, babe. Let's just sit down and relax. You can talk to me when you're ready."

Bucky led Steve to the couch and rubbed his back to calm him.

Steve took deep, shuddery breaths, and was eventually able to talk.

"I'm...scared. I was so scared when you were going on that mission...and then you lost your arm and I was afraid you would die...! You didn't, but I'm still afraid. I'm afraid you'll get sick or get an infection or something and you'll..." Steve swallowed thickly. "I don't wanna lose you. And you don't seem to understand how scared I am of that! You brush this off like it's nothing; like you didn't lose your fucking arm and almost die! You make jokes, you laugh, you carried Bruce even when the doctor _specifically said not to!_ You're not supposed to lift anything over 15 pounds and you know that, but you still brushed it off like you don't care if you get hurt worse! I was always the one that did stupid, reckless things, but now...!"

Steve pulled his legs up to his chest and hid his face in his knees.

"Oh, Steve.... I'm so sorry, baby. C'mere." Bucky pulled Steve against his chest and Steve let him, but he didn't move to hug him. "I'm sorry you were so scared. I don't want to lose you either, and I don't want to leave you, especially not like that. Steve...I do understand that you're scared, though. I am too. That's why I make the jokes...it's my way of coping, albeit a kind of shitty, annoying way. I don’t think carrying Bruce that short a distance could hurt me, though, and I don’t want your cousins and everyone to be afraid of hurting me or treat me different.”

“They should be afraid of hurting you,” Steve mumbled, barely audible. “What if Clint or someone gets too excited and jumps at you like they used to and you get hurt? The doctor said you need to rest and—and not have any excitement so you can heal faster! The faster you heal the faster nobody will have to be scared of hurting you like that!”

“I know, babe, I know. There’s always going to be excitement around me, though, Steve. It’s inescapable. With being an Avenger-slash-S.H.I.E.L.D.-agent, and having four littles around, there’s always going to be excitement. I’m used to it. Well, it was a bit much when you left.... You scared me, Steve!”

Steve sniffed. “I’m sorry. I got frustrated and wanted to be alone for a little bit....”

“You could have just gone upstairs, Steve. You didn’t have to run.”

“I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

“Good.” Bucky squeezed Steve tightly. “Steve, I understand that you’re scared, but I really don’t want you to worry so much. I’ll be fine. I’ll take it easy until the doctor comes back. I won’t carry anyone again, I’ll rest, just...please try not to worry so much. You’re meeting with Tori in a few days, so you can talk to her about it all you want, but please, just try to relax and not freak out over everything. And stop fighting yourself! I know you need to be little, but you’ve been fighting it off! _That’s_ gonna cause me more stress than anything else.”

Steve whimpered before bursting into tears. “Daddy!” He hugged Bucky tightly.

“I’m right here, baby boy. Everything’s okay.... How about we call Nat up here and the three of us can stay here and relax for the rest of the day? Sound good?”

Steve nodded, wiping his eyes on Bucky’s t-shirt.

“Okay, baby. Calm down. Everything’s okay.”

Bucky’s heart hurt to see Steve so scared and upset over him. Bucky’s used to feeling that way about Steve from when they were children, but Steve never had to deal with anything like this. And Bucky’s been making it worse with his jokes and everything. God, he needs to get his shit together so Steve can go back to being a happy baby....

“We’re gonna need to talk about your language later, mister.”


	30. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky's an emo boy  
> lots of crying  
> lots of dialogue  
> Bruce and Loki sleep through everything. Clint is on a mission with Natasha

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so here's this  
> i'm working at mcdonalds now so updates are ??? who knows tbh  
> BUT OMFG I FORGOT TO SAY THIS LAST EPISODE  
> so i have some pretty crazy dreams  
> i fell asleep writing about bucky's missing arm and my dream. was. INSANE  
> so in the dream i was with my mom, friend, and brother. we were in a giant field watching some play or movie but then i was on the stage for some reason and it was like a full on office workspace and i was being chased by michael meyers. he caught me and sliced my body in half (at the waist) and also cut one arm off and the hand on my other hand. so then i was back in my house downstairs in the tv room. and there was some random guy who i don't even know. he was wrapped in mummy gauze for whatever reason. (i was still just a torso with one arm and no hand. my legs were chilling in the corner) my mom (who also wasnt my irl mom bc this lady was white and blonde which is the opposite of my irl mom) was like "WHO TF IS THIS??" and killed mummy boy. (here there was a scene of mummy boy's death--he was like sliding down a rainbow into an ocean and ended up on an island) my mom locked me in the basement for like 4 months. eventually i managed to escape but i was in my childhood neighborhood which is really far from where i live now. was like dragging myself around with my stump hand and i got hit by a car. i had the same death scene as mummy boy. then i woke up after i died  
> it was a great time. i find it amusing when my dreams are related to/caused by the fanfics i write. but anyway  
> i'm in school right now so i should probably do stuff before my teacher walks over  
> enjoy the chapter (well, try bc there's a lot of crying and it's kinda annoying tbh but i can't be bothered to rewrite)  
> until next time *awkward salute thingy*

Steve hadn't left Bucky's side in over a week. Clint and Bruce did the same thing with their own daddies when they got hurt after New York, so nobody could judge him. Not that they would have, anyway.

Bucky'd been relaxing like he's supposed to. He didn't want to upset Steve anymore. He hates making his baby sad, but sometimes he screws up. _Stupid Ms. Nesbit...._

Steve took care of Bucky as much as he could, bringing him food and drinks and making sure his family is quiet and calm. During their bedtime baths, Steve washed Bucky's hair for him.

Steve knows Bucky told him not to fight himself about being little, but he did anyway. His acting skills have gotten better, so he pretended to be little sometimes; Bucky must have believed him because he never said anything. Steve couldn't bring himself to be little when Bucky's hurt. He was afraid of hurting Bucky or upsetting him or stressing him out while little. Pretending to be little was hard, but he managed it. Bucky seemed happy and he was healing more and more.

Bucky knocked on Tony's bedroom door. Tony opened his door, yawning and looking absolutely exhausted. Loki's nightmares had started up again and they were worse than ever, making the poor boy wake up numerous times throughout the night, soaked, crying and hyperventilating.

"Hey, Tony," Bucky greeted.

"Mhmm. JARVIS, what time is it?" JARVIS responded that is was exactly 7 in the morning. "What're you doing up so early, Buck?"

"I have an appointment with my therapist early this morning and one with the doctor afterwards," Bucky explained. "Nat and Phil are on a mission, so I was wondering if you could watch Steve until I get back. He's still asleep and he probably won't even wake up until later, but...."

"Sure, I'll keep an eye on him. Well, JARVIS will and he'll tell me if he wakes up. But, uh, how are you gonna get there?" Tony glanced at Bucky's left side before looking back up at his face, slightly ashamed. He hates when people look at the arc reactor funny and he just looked at Bucky the same way people always look at him....

Bucky shrugged. "I'll get a cab."

"You sure?"

"It's either that or wake up Fury and ask him to pick me up."

"Jeez, that sounds terrifying.... Alright, well, I'll text you if anything happens."

"Thanks, Tony." Bucky smiled and patted Tony's shoulder before turning to go back in the elevator and go to his appointments. He felt a slight twinge of pain in his heart at the thought of leaving Steve. Maybe he could just take him with him.... He wouldn't want Steve to get upset if he woke up without Bucky there.... Especially on his first night sleeping back in his crib! Previously, Steve had been sleeping on the floor by Bucky's bed, refusing to leave him alone but also refusing to sleep with Bucky in bed because he didn't want to hurt him. Bucky practically had to beg Steve to go back to his own room for bed and, shockingly, he did. He must have known he was upsetting Bucky by sleeping on the floor....

Before he knew it, Bucky was in a cab. Without Steve.

———

"Hello, James. It's good to see you again."

Bucky offered a small smile to his therapist. "It's good to see you too. A lot has happened since I last saw you."

"I bet! Where would you like to start?"

"Well..." Bucky swallowed, glancing at his left side. "You can see I lost my arm on a mission. Good ol' lasers, ya know? And, well, it's not as bad as I thought it would be. Thor gave me a salve from Asgard that took away the pain so that's not a problem. I've just been kinda tired lately and the doctor said I have to be careful about getting too excited and physical exertion because I'm still healing.... I'm worried about Steve, though.... I can tell he hasn't been little since I came home. I don't know why he hasn't, but I also don't know how to approach him about it.... I haven't said anything because I don't know how and I've just been treating him like normal. I guess I kinda hope he'll slip properly into his headspace if I do, but he hasn't.... I don't know what to do."

"It might be easier to talk to him if you have someone with you as some type of support.... Me or Steve's therapist could work or even one of the other Avengers. That way you have someone to lean on and who can help guide the conversation."

"But I wouldn't even know how to start...."

"That's what your support is there for. They'll set up the conversation, then you can just say you've been worried because you know he hasn't been little."

Bucky slowly nodded. "I suck," he finally said.

"Hey, why are you saying that?"

"Steve's probably doing this because of me! When I woke up I managed to make him cry in an attempt to be funny. Twice! And when I came home I wasn't really taking as much care of myself as I should've because I don't want life to be different because I lost my stupid arm! Steve ran away because he got upset I wasn't taking care of myself, but I know he's still upset and worried about me and I try to tell him not to be but it doesn't work! I suck."

"Bucky, that's not your fault. You went through something awful. You both did. It's going to be hard for both of you for a while, but it'll get better with time and proper communication."

Bucky nodded, understanding. He still doesn't feel great about himself, but he knows Sandy is right. He's glad Steve has an appointment with Tori later today.

———

Steve woke up to see he was in his crib. So that wasn't a dream.... He really left Bucky alone all night.... Steve sat up, frowning. He knows he's not supposed to climb out of his crib, even when he's big because he could get hurt.... Bucky can't lift him out. Bucky couldn't even take down the side of the crib last night so Steve could climb in! Tony had to do it for him!

Steve's heart began to pound against his rib cage. He left Bucky alone all night. What if he got hurt? What if something happened to him and Steve wasn't there to help him? What if he had a nightmare and Steve wasn't there to comfort him? Or he didn't hear his alarm to take his medication?

Steve decided _heck it if I get in trouble_ and climbed out of his crib, falling hard on his butt. Steve ignored his wet diaper and the possibility of getting in trouble to run to Bucky's room.

He froze.

Bucky...wasn't there.

Steve checked all the bathrooms, the kitchen, and the living room, but Bucky was nowhere to be found.

He began to panic, a million _what if's_ running through his head. _What if he went outside alone? What if he got kidnapped? Or lost? What if he fell and got hurt? Or someone hit him with a car?_

"Hey, Steve? It's Uncle Tony." Steve felt Tony's calloused hand gentle on his arm. "Daddy's okay, buddy. He had an appointment with his therapist and then the doctor early this morning. He's on his way back now. Steve, breathe. He's okay. You're okay. Everyone is okay."

Steve's breath hitched and he broke down in Tony's arms.

Tony held Steve tightly, rubbing his back and whispering into his ear. "It's okay, buddy. I know you're scared. Daddy's okay. How about we go get you a new diaper, then we can make breakfast, hmm? Sound good?"

"I don't wanna," Steve mumbled against Tony's shoulder. "He shoulda told me he was going out!"

"He didn't want to wake you up, Steve. He thought you'd stay asleep for a few more hours, anyway."

"Doesn't matter! He shoulda told me!"

Tony squeezed Steve tighter. "I know, buddy, I know. We'll talk to him when he gets home and tell him not to leave without letting you know again, okay? Okay.... Now, let's go get you changed before you get a rash."

Steve sniffled as he followed Tony back to his room. He was on the verge of crying again, just by being on the changing table.

Tony's changed his diapers a hundred times, but it's not the same as when Bucky does it. Bucky plays and tickles him.... Bucky hasn't been able to change his diaper recently. He was only even able to carry Bruce that day because of the adrenaline and excitement about being home!

Steve felt himself slipping into his headspace and mentally punched himself. _No! I can't! Bucky's hurt and if I'm little I'll just hurt him worse! He won't even notice I'm not really little, but I_ can't _be little for real!_

"Hey, Steve," Tony whispered, gently patting Steve's tummy. "What are you thinking about?"

_I can't.... I can't.... I-I...._

"Daddy!" Steve wailed, dropping deep into his headspace.

Tony pulled Steve off the changing table and into his arms, hugging him tightly. "Oh, Steve.... He'll be home really soon, buddy. I promise."

Steve shook his head and squirmed out of Tony's arms to hide in his closet. "'M bad!"

"What? Why do you think you're bad?"

"Daddy mad me!"

"Why is he mad?"

Steve didn't respond. Tony knelt on the floor by Steve's closet to see the toddler sobbing into his knees.

"Steve.... Can I come in?"

Steve shrugged, so Tony took that as an okay and crawled in the closet to sit beside the crying toddler. Tony pulled Steve into his arms and squeezed him tightly.

"Why do you think Daddy's mad at you, buddy? Hmm? Talk to me, Steve."

Steve hiccuped sadly. "'M bad.... Haven't been helpful as I shoulda.... Haven't...haven't really been little in...long time.... Been pretending 'cause want Daddy happy.... But he gonna find out n' be mad...."

"Oh, Steve.... Why haven't you let yourself be little? You know that's not good. You could get sick or destabilize your emotions...."

"I know!" Steve bawled. "S-scared.... Don' wanna hurt Daddy if little!"

"Steve.... Kiddo, I know you wouldn't hurt him if you're little. I know that Daddy won't be mad at you, but he might be a little sad that you didn't talk to him about how you're feeling."

Steve curled against Tony's side, crying harder. "No! Daddy gon' hate me!"

"Woah, woah, woah. _What?_ "

 _Daddy!_ Steve's heart leaped out of his chest before crashing to the floor and crumbling into a bajillion pieces. Daddy's so mad at him.... For not being helpful, for not being little, for thinking Daddy's mad at him, for thinking Daddy hates him....

"Stevie, you know Daddy could never hate you in a billion years! What's got you thinking I hate you?"

Steve looked up at Daddy—his best friend since childhood, his savior, always kind and gentle to everyone now sad and heartbroken—and his words caught in his throat. He couldn't speak due to how hard he was crying.

Bucky and Tony glanced at each other, quickly coming up with a plan.

"Babe, c'mere," Bucky coaxed. "Please? Let's go lay down and talk about this."

Tony practically had to drag Steve out of the closet because the toddler had shrunken in on himself because of his crying and couldn't move.

Tony and Bucky helped Steve to his feet and got him to Bucky's room where Steve and Bucky immediately crashed into bed. Tony hurried out to get Steve's toys and blanket and a pacifier and a warm bottle.

"Steve, you gotta calm down and talk to me, babe," Bucky pleaded. "I can't help you feel better if you're crying so hard that you can't hear me...."

"T-ng," Steve managed to choke out.

"You're trying?" Steve nodded. Bucky felt his heart shatter. His poor baby! "C'mon. How 'bout a bottle?" Bucky pulled Steve onto his lap and offered the bottle, only causing Steve to cry more.

He's gonna hurt Daddy! He's hurting Daddy! He wants Daddy to feed him. Daddy can't feed him and hold him at the same time! He wants to be held! He wants—wants—

"Bear and Bunny are here, Steve! Look! And your blanket. Your ma made this for you. Remember? She wouldn't want you to be so sad, baby."

Steve wailed, hiding his face in Bucky's chest.

"Steve, I don't know what to do right now. You gotta help me, babe," Bucky begged, beginning to tear up. God, he feels so useless right now.... He can't comfort his best friend when he's upset. It doesn't help that Steve is upset because of him, no doubt!

"How about I call Tori? You had an appointment with her today anyway; I can just ask if she'll come here if you don't wanna go out...."

Steve nodded, so Bucky called her. She said she could be over in 20 minutes with Joshua or one hour without him. Bucky begged her to bring Joshua—maybe he could also help comfort Steve. He's sure Tony wouldn't care about Joshua being there. Loki and Bruce surely wouldn't mind keeping him entertained while Tori talks with Steve. They both met Joshua at group therapy and they said they get along alright, but they definitely couldn't compete with his relationship with Steve. Those two are best friends.

20 pitiful minutes passed with Bucky trying everything in his power to comfort Steve—bottles, cuddles, singing—but nothing worked. Finally, Tori arrived.

_To any God that is out there: THANK YOU!_

Tori walked into the room and frowned upon seeing Steve crying so hard and Bucky very nearly in tears as well.

"Hey, Steve," Tori greeted, speaking quietly so Steve would have to be a bit quieter to hear her. It worked. Steve's eyes were still comparable to niagara falls, but he was quieting down.

"Can you take some deep breaths with me? You too, Bucky. In, one, two, three, four, and out, one, two, three, four." Tori repeated the breathing exercises with the boys until both were calm and the tears had subsided significantly.

"How are you feeling, Steve?" Tori finally asked.

Steve shrugged, reaching for his pacifier. Tori gently placed it in his mouth then began wiping his face with a washcloth before moving to Bucky's face, surprising him.

"That was a quite a big cry, huh? Do you think you could talk about it now? Either of you? Or would you like some juice or water and a few more minutes of quiet time?"

Steve shrugged again.

"Maybe a few more minutes," Bucky answered. He feels like shit. Crying always does that to him, but having Steve cry like that? Not being able to calm him? He sucks.

Bucky was pulled from his thoughts by a familiar hand on his cheek. _Steve._

"Dada?" Steve asked softly. It wasn't until he gently wiped his finger under Bucky's eye that he noticed he was crying again. _Dammit. Stop being so emotional!_

"Hey, baby," Bucky sniffled. Steve _was_ properly in his headspace—finally—when he came home, but now he can tell he's trying to be big again.

"'M sorry...."

"Why are you sorry, Steve?"

"Thinkin' you mad n' hate me...haven't really been little in long time...."

"I know you haven't, Steve. I didn't know how to talk to you about it, so I didn't say anything when I probably should have. This probably could have been prevented—or at least not have gotten this bad—if we had talked...."

"Probably...." Steve cuddled against Bucky's chest. He waved shyly at Tori. "Hi."

"Hi, Steve," she replied, with a slightly sad smile. "Why haven't you been little in so long?"

Steve looked at his toes, guiltily. "I didn't wanna hurt Daddy if I was little. I've been really scared of hurting him or ruining the healing process with too much excitement or stress or something...." Steve looked at Bucky miserably. "So I pretended to be little to keep you happy. I didn't think you noticed...."

"Stevie...." Bucky took a few deep breaths when he choked on his baby's name. "Of course I noticed. I've known you for practically our whole lives; I notice everything about you. You could never hurt me, though. I know it. You hate hurting anyone when you're little and you're always extra careful when somebody is already hurt. And the healing process wouldn't have been ruined. Honestly, I've been really stressed about you not being little.... I went to the doctor after I saw my therapist today and he said I've been doing great. I'm pretty much completely healed.... He said I could put on the new metal arm Tony made me anytime I want now...."

"R-really...? Are you gonna?"

"I want to. How would you feel about that?"

"I dunno.... It'll be weird for you to have a _metal_ arm...."

"Weirder than having no arm?"

Steve shook his head. "You should have Uncle Tony help you put it on. It'll take a while to get used to it, but that's okay."

Bucky smiled. "I'll ask him later. For now, let's finish in here."

"Okay, Dada."

"Steve, do you still think Bucky's mad at you? Or that he hates you?" Tori asked softly.

Steve shrugged. "Mad...."

"Why do you think that?"

"Because I haven't been little in so long.... I wanted to help, but I wasn't as helpful as I coulda been.... Didn't listen when Dada said don't be worried. M' bad...."

"You're not bad. And I'm not mad. I wish you wouldn't have fought to not be little for so long, but I understand that you were scared. I can't be mad at you for being scared. And you've been _super_ helpful! I really appreciate everything you've done for me and I'm sorry I didn't talk to you about what's been bothering you sooner."

"Dada, I didn't like waking up and you were gone. It was scary. Uncle Tony said you were talking to your therapist, but you shoulda told me you were going...."

"You're right. I just didn't want to wake you up because you were finally sleeping in your bed."

"At least leave a note? Or a message with JARVIS next time?"

"I will. I promise, baby."

"Kay. Love you, Dada."

"I love you too, babe." Bucky squeezed Steve tightly and pressed a kiss to his cheek, making Steve smile widely.

"Go to Uncle Tony now, Dada! Wanna talk to Tori 'lone. 'Bout not fighting headspace anymore."

"Alright, baby. Tell JARVIS if you need me."

Bucky kissed Steve's cheek again before leaving the bedroom.

———

Steve curled against Bucky's chest, being fed a bottle. Cold metal touched his bare neck, but he didn't mind it. Daddy's there. Daddy's happy. He's happy.


	31. yooooo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> how does one tag a person in something on this website what  
> i tried but idk if it worked or what

i'm sorry this isn't actually a chapter, but something really cool happened about a week ago!!

i got gifted a work on here ^^

firecracker189 wrote _No Spiders!!!_ from a one shot I wrote for this series a while ago

i was gonna mention this with a new chapter from me but it's taking too long to write (work and school are AWFUL) and i really want you all to read it and give this person some love and check out their other works too bc they're all really great cc:

i'm gonna try to write the next chapter this weekend bc i only work wednesday and thursday this week, but i only have 18 more school days so hopefully i'll be able to write then

we really are getting close to the end (i'll keep up the one shot book for this, but i may or may not start another story or a sequal(how tf do you spell this word what)... idk 

we;ll see

but anyway GO READ FIRECRACKER189'S STORIES AND TELL THEM HOW AWESOME THEY ARE


	32. Chapter 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce is sad. He cries.  
> Tony is sad. He cries.  
> Wade Wilson saves the day before he’s deadpool. (I really love deadpool, I NEED TO SEE THE SECOND MOVIE)  
> Warning: self harm in the form of scratching, mentions of spanking, let me know if i need to add more

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter has been through a lot. it was gonna be really long but i changed my mind. i also completely changed the direction this chapter was going to make it more depressing whoops. i wrote most of this yesterday and finished it today in science class. like the first 100 or 200 words are the same as when i started before i changed the direction of the chapter. after that, any mention of Loki was an afterthought but i love loki so he’s there now. i have work today and i don’t wanna go unless i get my paycheck today. anyway, enjoy this chapter, next time we’ll meet Rhodey and his 2 littles. until then, i’m gonna cry and wait impatiently for school to be over (June 21st❤️)

Bruce pouted with his arms crossed. Tony had suggested having his best friend and his two littles over the tower over the weekend. Everyone said that sounded great! Except Bruce. He didn't want them to come over.

"Come on, Bruce," Loki said. "Tony hasn't seen them in ages! Why don't you want them to come over?"

"No."

"Why no?"

Bruce turned away from his brother, hiding his face in Dex.

"Brucie.... Tony's gonna be so sad that he doesn't get to see them."

Bruce still ignored Loki, but he wondered...is he being selfish? Mean? For not wanting Daddy to have his friend and niece and nephew over? Bruce knows Daddy wouldn't have them over if he really didn't want them to come, but...he doesn't want Daddy to be sad!

Bruce hugged Dex tight. He probably is being selfish.... He's such a bad boy. Daddy probably hates him for not letting his friend come over....

"Wanna be 'lone," Bruce mumbled into the soft plush of his dolphin.

Loki had to strain to hear him, but finally sighed and stood up. "Okay. I'm going to go upstairs; Clint and Bucky wanted me to play video games with them today. Daddy's in the kitchen making you lunch."

Bruce didn't respond. Loki sighed and walked into the kitchen to tell Tony he was leaving before going to the elevator, leaving his baby brother alone.

Bruce's eyes filled with tears the moment he was alone. He still has some separation anxiety about being away from Tony because of the battle.... He's usually okay as long as he's with at least one family member, but, when's the last time he was completely alone like this while little? Sure, there was one incident a few months ago, but Bucky, Steve, Natasha, and Tony ran to him as soon as he started crying! Aside from that...the last time he was alone was New Year's eve. Tony was so upset he had run away, but that was back when Tony loved him. Bruce doubts he would care if he left now.

Dropping Dex, Bruce sneakily made his way past the kitchen and to the elevator and pressed the down button. Tony didn't even notice Bruce had left. Bruce's heart hurt at the realization. Daddy really does hate him.... He even let JARVIS let him leave!

———

"Alright, Brucie," Tony called. "Are you ready for some mac n' cheese?"

Tony turned to the playroom to find his baby was missing. His heart began racing as he ran around the floor, looking for Bruce in all of his known hiding spots, and even the unknown ones. He can't have left the floor. JARVIS knows better—JARVIS is off. Tony had briefly turned JARVIS off to allow for quicker updates. Bruce could be anywhere.

"Shit...."

———

Bruce curled into a tight ball between two buildings. He's still in the same wet diaper and Captain America shirt he had left in. Daddy hasn't come to find him yet. Daddy probably still hasn't noticed he's gone. Daddy hates him.

He sucked his dirty thumb into his mouth and cried silently to himself. He wants Daddy! Daddy hates him.... He's bad!

" _Bruce_!" Steve!

" _Bruce Banner, where are you?_ " Uncle Bucky!

Bruce stopped himself from leaving his hiding spot. They'll just bring him back to Daddy. Daddy hates him! Bruce moved further into the space between the buildings and stayed silent until he could no longer hear his family.

  
———

"It's okay, Uncle Tony," Clint tried. "Bruce'll come back soon."

"He won't!" Tony cried. "It's already been three days! I can't believe I didn't even notice him leave! He's probably so scared and cold and hungry...."

———

Bruce shivered in his spot. He's so hungry and he feels weak. He misses Daddy so much! Daddy still hasn't found him even after 5 days. He probably hasn't noticed he's missing.... Or he doesn't care....

The thought brought a fresh wave of tears and Bruce's body shook from the force of his sobs and from the cold.

He yelped when he noticed a shadow in front of him.

"Hey there, little guy," the stranger cooed. "What's the matter? Are you lost?"

Bruce had backed up as far into his space as he could. He looked at the stranger in fear.

"Shh, shh.... It's okay. I won't hurt you. My name is Wade Wilson."

"'M Bruce," Bruce croaked after a minute.

"Bruce, huh? What's a cute baby boy like you doing between a sex shop and a Taco Bell?"

Bruce shrugged.

"Well, where's your Daddy? Or Mommy? Do you have a caregiver?"

Slowly, Bruce nodded. "Bu' he hate me...."

Wade frowned, obviously concerned. His eyes drifted across Bruce's body, looking for bruises, but Bruce was too dirty to see anything even if there were bruises.

"Why? Has he ever hurt you?"

Bruce shook his head no, quickly.

Wade bit his lip. "Will you come with me? I'll get you clean and warm and fed, then we can figure out what to do."

Bruce shook his head again, trying to push himself further into his space. He doesn't wanna go with this stranger! He seems nice, but he can't be sure! He just met him!

"Okay, okay. Well, at least let me take you to Taco Bell and buy you a taco or something. You can wear my jacket."

Bruce considered it.

Taco Bell is populated enough. People will be able to see if Wade does anything sketchy, and he can always cry out if he does and people will hear.... And he is pretty hungry and cold....

Bruce agreed and crawled out of the space between buildings. Wade helped him stand and led him inside the Taco Bell.

———

"I'm going out to look again."

"Tony, you just got back 5 minutes ago. Rest for a bit."

"I rested for 5 minutes, Phil. I need to go out and look for my baby."

"Fine. Then I'm coming with you."

  
———

"You sure were hungry, huh, little guy?" Wade chuckled. "You want my burrito?"

Bruce shook his head, shyly.

"Go on. I don't want it anyway. I'm full."

Bruce looked up at Wade with wide eyes. Wade smiled, encouragingly. Slowly, he reached out and took the burrito, eating it slower than he ate his other two.

Wade had taken Bruce into the bathroom after ordering their food and cleaned him up with some baby wipes in the bathroom. Unfortunately, the bathroom didn't have any diapers, but Wade planned on getting diapers after food. Now, Bruce wore Wade's jacket, which was covered in burrito filling at that point.

"So. Next, we're gonna go to the closest little store and get a small pack of diapers, a pair of pants, and maybe a new shirt, then we'll go down to the police station so they can help us."

Bruce's head shot up at that last part. _Police station? But what if they call Daddy? What if they get the wrong idea about Daddy and Daddy gets in trouble? And it's his fault?! He misses Daddy!_

"Shh, c'mon, little guy. Are you done eating?"

Bruce nodded, sniffling.

"Okay, then let's go. Everything will be okay."

———

"Tony, everything will be okay," Phil insisted. "Really. Bruce is a smart boy!"

"Then why hasn't he come home?" Clint grumbled. "If he's so smart he wouldn'ta left in the first place! He's got a family that loves him! He's probably lost or sick or something now because he ran away. That's stupid."

"Clinton Francis Barton!" Phil scolded. "How  
dare you say that about your baby cousin?!"

"What?! It's true!"

Phil leaned into Clint. "You're lucky I don't take you over my knee right here," he whispered. "As soon as we get home, you and I are gonna have a nice long chat." Phil swatted Clint's bottom once. "Apologize to Tony for saying that."

"Sorry," Clint mumbled. "'M just worried...."

"It's okay," Tony whispered, biting the inside of his cheek to keep from crying. As if he's not worried too?! Tony's more worried than any of the rest of them _combined_! He's so hurt that Bruce would run away. Hasn't he been a good Daddy? He thought he was, but...maybe not....

———

Bruce clung to Wade's jacket as he sat in front of the police officer. He wanted Wade to come with him, but he wasn't allowed! Wade promised to be right outside waiting for him, though.

"What's your full name?"

"R-Robert Bruce Banner-Stark," Bruce sniffed.

"And your caregiver's name?"

"A-Anthony Edward S-Stark."

Bruce's eyes filled with tears as he said his Daddy's name. _Daddy_!

"Why did you run away?"

"Was sad. Didn' wanna bother Daddy, so left...."

"Why were you sad? Did he hurt you or something?"

"No! Daddy never hurt me! He wanted his friend come over, but I no want, 'cause 'm selfish." Bruce's voice cracked on the last word. "Daddy prob'ly mad I no want his friend, so I left."

The police officer's face softened. "Bruce, your family has been looking for you for days. Your daddy filed a missing persons report as soon as he was able, and he's been out looking for you for five days. He really misses you."

Bruce's eyes filled with tears. Really? Daddy's been looking for him? He knows Steve and Bucky looked a few days ago, but maybe it was just them. Maybe Daddy didn't care, but.... Daddy was looking for him! Daddy misses him!

"Want Daddy!" He wailed.

———

"Mr. Stark, please—"

"Get out of my way, lady. My baby has been missing for 5 days and I refuse to go another minute without him in my arms!"

Tony pushed his way into the room Bruce was being held in with Loki right behind him. His heart nearly leaped out of his chest when he saw his baby boy, crying into some other man's arms.

"Daddy!" Bruce cried, launching himself into Tony's arms.

Tony lifted Bruce and spun with him a few times, squeezing tightly as they both cried against the other's shoulder. Tony pulled Loki into the hug as well.

"You're going to be in so much trouble when we get home, young man," he whispered.

"Daddy," Bruce sniffled. “Loki!”

“Missed you, Bruce,” Loki whispered, clinging tightly to his baby brother.

Tony didn't put Bruce down even as he wiped his eyes and finally addressed Wade.

"So, you're the one who found my baby boy?"

"Yes," Wade answered. "I was out walking and I heard him crying. He was between a Taco Bell and a sex shop. I got him to come out and bought him some food at Taco Bell. Got him in a new diaper and a new outfit, then we came here."

"Well, thank you. So much. I owe you."

Wade shrugged. "It's all good."

"No, really. What do you want? I owe you. You found Bruce and got him back to me."

"Really, nothing. I'm good. I have something for Bruce, though!"

Bruce craned his neck around to look at Wade.

Wade handed over a stuffed bumblebee. "This reminded me of you because of how sweet and adorable you are!"

"Thank you!" Bruce hugged the bee tightly.

Wade smiled. "See you, little guy."

"Bye bye, Mr. Wade. Thank you f'r takin' care 'f me n' gettin' me Daddy."

"No problem, kiddo. Just don't let me find you by any sex stores again, okay?"

Bruce nodded, giggling. He and Tony watched as Wade left.

"Home, Daddy...?"

"Yeah, baby. We're gonna go home now. I love you."

"Love you, Daddy. N’ Loki!”

———

" _Robert Bruce Banner-Stark!_ Why did you run away like that?" Tony demanded as soon as he set Bruce down on he bathroom counter on his personal floor. Loki was dropped off with his aunt.

Bruce whimpered. "I'm sorry, Dada."

"Don't you _'I'm sorry Dada'_ me, young man! You know better than to run away like that! You're lucky Wade found you! I didn't know where to look for you! We've never gone by that area before, so I probably wouldn't have looked there!"

"I'm sorry, Dada!" Bruce began sobbing. God, he's so bad! Everyone's probably so angry at him! And he's hungry again and in a lot of pain and tired and—

"Shh. We'll talk later. For now, I'm gonna get you some medicine to help with the pain and to fall asleep. I'll give you a bath and take care of your injuries, then you can have a bottle and nap. Sound good?"

Bruce nodded pathetically. He feels pathetic. Dada's so mad.... Bruce is mad at himself too.

———

Bruce woke up, groggy. His entire body hurts. Where's Tony? He's wet and hungry and—he fucked up. He wishes Hulk would smash him right now.

Bruce stood up in his crib, wincing slightly. His feet hurt. He had run out without shoes on and the pavement and streets were hot and there was even some glass on the ground.... Bruce climbed out of his crib, landing hard on his butt. He whimpered. He has a rash from being in the same diaper for so long. He has bandages on his feet, hands, and knees from cuts and scrapes and burns he got.

Bruce slowly limped his way to the living room where Tony was sat on the couch, elbows on his knees, chin in his hands, staring at a spot on the floor silently.

"Tony?" Bruce whispered. "I'm—I'm so sorry...."

"You should be." Tony turned to Bruce with an unreadable face. "Do you have _any idea_ how badly you worried me? And all your cousins and uncles and aunt? And your _brother_ for Christ's sake! Think New Years times 100 trillion."

Bruce looked down at his feet, guiltily.

"Sit. You shouldn't be on your feet."

Bruce sat on the loveseat across from Tony.

"You wanna tell me why you ran away?"

"I'm bad...."

"Yeah, you are bad for running!"

Bruce's heart broke. Tony never said he was bad.... He's said that he was naughty, but never bad.... But then again, Bruce knows he's bad. He's surprised Tony hasn't given him up yet.... That'll be coming soon enough.

Tony sighed. "I'm sorry, Bruce. You're not bad. I haven't gotten a chance to work through everything yet. As soon as you went to sleep I was just letting everyone know that you were found and you're safe.... I didn't get to just sit and think."

Bruce shook his head as Tony spoke. "I'm bad! I know I am! You're mad and hate me because I'm so bad and selfish!"

"Woah!" Tony shot up from his spot on the couch and crouched in front of Bruce. "I don't know what got that thought in your head, but I don't like it; get it out right now. I don't hate you and you're not selfish. I love you so incredibly much! And you're probably one of the most selfless people I know! I said you're not bad. I'm just upset and hurt that you ran away."

Bruce curled up on the couch, turned away from Tony.

"Okay. I think we both need some quiet time to think. Let's get you clean, then you can eat something while we both think."

Bruce grunted and curled up tighter when Tony tried to grab him.

"Bruce, come on. You have a rash. It'll get worse if you don't get changed."

"Leave me alone, Tony."

Tony sighed, pursing his lips. "Fine. Don't come crying to me when your ass hurts because of the rash, though."

Tony stood and walked to the kitchen table, so they could both be alone, but he could still keep an eye on Bruce. He's already told JARVIS that Bruce isn't allowed in elevators unsupervised at any time and he's never allowed to be without someone watching him.

Bruce cried silently in the couch. He knew Tony hates him! Tony's probably going to send him away now. He's so bad!

Tony watched Bruce from the kitchen. He wishes Bruce would just talk to him about why he's so upset. He knows he screwed up saying Bruce was bad, but he apologized and tried to reassure him that he's not. He's not! He's such a good boy!

Bruce scratched at his stomach. He's bad! Tony hates him! But...Tony did come looking for him.... He hugged him and said he loves him when he found him. He took care of him when they got home. Bruce was sure he'd get a spanking as soon as they got home, but he didn't. Tony cleaned him and fed him and let him sleep. Tony said he was hurt that he had left.... That doesn't sound like hate....

Slowly sitting up, Bruce looked over at Tony and put his arms out.

Tony blinked, feeling his throat tighten.

"Tony?" Bruce sniffed. "I'm sorry. I'm being a brat."

Tony sighed. He opened his eyes to see Bruce still with his arms up. He stood and walked over to the couch. He sat next to Bruce and pulled him into his arms.

"I don't care how bratty you are; you're my good boy and I love you."

"I love you too, Tony!" Bruce cuddled into Tony's chest, head right next to the arc reactor.

"Baby, Bruce, can you please talk to me now?"

Bruce cuddled closer to Tony, wincing as scratches on his tummy hurt. "I'm sorry...."

"I know, baby. I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have said you were bad."

"'S'okay...." Bruce bit his tongue to keep from saying he's bad anyway.

"How about a new diaper before we start talking?" Tony winced as he felt Bruce's diaper leak against his leg.

"Okay." Bruce didn't protest wearing a diaper when he's not actually little. He's walking a tightrope of his headspaces, so it would probably be best to have some type of protection. "Can I have a bottle too?" Bruce suddenly noticed how hungry he was.

"Of course, baby. Diaper first."

Tony froze in the middle of changing Bruce's diaper and clothes. "Bruce, what are those scratches on your tummy?"

Bruce turned his head away from Tony.

"Did you do this to yourself? Why?"

"I was mad at myself.... I still am. My behavior has been bad and I'm sorry, Tony...."

Tony's heart hurt. Bruce hurt himself while Tony was looking at him! He didn't even notice! Tony could have prevented this, but he didn't even realize. He didn't realize Bruce get into the elevator and leave either....

"Don't be mad at yourself, Brucie. You made a mistake. You'll be punished for it, but _I'm_ going to decide your punishment. Not you, not Loki, not Bucky, not anyone else. Me."

Tony gently dabbed some disinfectant on Bruce's scratches and put bandaids on them. Satisfied that all of Bruce's wounds were taken care of and he was in a clean diaper and clothes, Tony took Bruce to the kitchen and prepared a bottle for him. The two sat at the table as Bruce drank.

Once his tummy was full, Bruce shifted in his seat and looked at Tony. Sighing, he began his explanation: "I'm sorry I ran away, Tony. I was upset because I felt like I was selfish and being bad and mean for not wanting Rhodey and his littles to come over. I knew you'd get upset, so I felt bad. I didn't want you to be upset. I never want you to be upset! And if I was the cause of you being upset...so I left. And I thought because you or JARVIS didn't say nothin' you didn't care. You'd be happy if I left 'cause you could see your friend and not have to take care of such a bad baby...." Bruce sniffled as he spoke.

"Bruce.... C'mere, baby." Tony hugged Bruce tightly. “I do want to see them, but I can go to them. They don’t have to come here. You’re not going to upset me for not wanting them to come here. I know it’s scary to meet new people sometimes.”

“But you knowed them for forever! Shouldn’t be scared ‘f you trust ‘em!”

“Shhh.... It’s okay to be scared. They don’t have to come. I don’t mind. I’ll go see them another time and you can stay with your cousins and uncles. Bruce, JARVIS didn’t say anything because he was _off_. I turned him off so he could get updates. I was focused on making your lunch. I should have been more focused on you, and that’s my fault. I wouldn’t be happy without you. I couldn’t be. You have no idea how sad...how scared...how _hurt_ I was that you’d left. You’re not bad and I love taking care of you all the time.”

Tears fell from Bruce’s eyes too quick for him to wipe them away. What did he do to deserve Tony? He’s so good and kind to him and patient and he loves him even when Bruce is being a brat! “I’m sorry, Tony. Really I am!”

“I know. I’m not going to say it’s okay, because you shouldn’t have run away, but I still love you and I’m so happy you’re back.” Tony squeezed Bruce tight and kissed his cheek.

Bruce cuddled closer to Tony. He’s never going to run away again. Even if he’s really sad or scared. Tony will take care of him no matter what.

“Punishment?” Bruce whimpered.

“We’ll worry about that later. For now, I just want to hold you.”

———

Bruce sat up in Tony’s bed, watching Tony get ready for bed. Bruce already had lotion on his pink bottom, a diaper on, and wore one of Tony’s too-big shirts as pajamas. He’d brushed his teeth already and was just waiting for Tony so he could go to bed. He held Dex tightly and took a deep breath. He’s been thinking about this all day.

“Tony?”

“Hmm?” Tony asked around the toothbrush in his mouth.

“I was thinking.... Maybe they could come over.... If I’m with you and Loki then I’ll be fine with them here.”

Tony spit toothpaste out and turned to Bruce. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I realized I was jealous ‘cause you known them forever n’ only known me for like a year and a half.... Thought you like them better n’ would forget me when they come....”

“Bruce, that would never happen! Yeah, I’ve known them for a long time and I love and miss them, but I love you too! I’m able to still pay attention to you with Loki and Clint and Steve, aren’t I? Even while you were missing I still took care of Loki.”

“I know. I realize that now. I love you, Tony.”

“I love you too, baby.” Tony hugged Bruce tightly. “Are you sure you’re okay with them coming over?”

“Mhmm. I wanna meet them.”

“Okay, baby. I’ll talk to Rhodey tomorrow about when he wants to come over.”

“Kay.”

There was a quiet knock on the door and Loki opened it. “Can I come in?” He whispered.

Bruce held his arms out for his big brother.

Loki ran into his brother’s arms and hugged him tightly, sitting on Tony’s lap as the three of them cuddled.

“I’m sorry for leaving you alone,” Loki whispered. “You wouldn’t have run away if I didn’t....”

“It’s okay, Loki. I asked you to leave me alone. It’s not your fault. It’s mine.”

“Shh,” Tony soothed both boys when they began to get worked up. “No more assigning blame. Let’s just forget this ever happened, okay? Bruce is home and safe. He’s been punished. There’s no need to keep talking about it.”

“Sorry, Tony,” both boys whispered.

“It’s okay. Let’s go to sleep now. It’s been a long few days.”

Loki started to climb out of bed, but Bruce tightened his arms around the boy.

“Stay? Sleep with us! Please? Missed you.”

“Okay,” Loki agreed. The three of them laid in bed with Bruce between them. Bruce yawned widely and was asleep in seconds.

Tony kissed both his boys’ cheeks before settling down to sleep. He couldn’t wait for morning. He’s going to call Rhodey and ask him to come over as soon as possible!


	33. Chapter 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhodey and his littles finally make an entrance.  
> Sasha’s little age is about 4-ish  
> Oscar’s is around 7-9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE END IS NIGH  
> there will be a few more chapters then this will be finished (i’ll still post one shots in the one shot story though)  
> i might start a new avengers little story after this one. i have an idea (actually i started writing it but idk if people wanna see it) about bruce and tony being little together then the other avengers find out.. idk, let me know if you wanna see it  
> school just ended for me on thursday. in september i’ll be a senior. this time next year i’ll be graduated from high school. shit.  
> i still have work and i actually have summer work to do for psychology (due july 12) but i hope to be able to finish this before school starts back up. i’m thinking maybe 2 more chapters, possibly 3, but 2 is more likely...  
> but let me know what you think about the bruce and tony story  
> i’m gonna go eat now, enjoy, have a good day, happy summer 

Clint tugged on his aunt's sleeve, excitedly. Rhodes is on his way with his littles! He's in a good mood today! He played with his whole family all day yesterday and they watched movies while the babies took naps. Clint got to have a long, warm bath with his favorite toys and then he got to sleep with his daddy all night! He didn't have any nightmares and he woke up to the smell of waffles, fruit, and bacon!

"Aunt Natasha, can I wear my new Pikachu shirt today?" Clint begged over breakfast.

"Of course, malen'kiy yastreb." Natasha smiled at her nephew.

Loki walked into the kitchen holding his baby brother. Thor was close behind. Bruce is nervous about Rhodes coming over, but he insisted he'd be okay with meeting three new people at once. Tony said he wouldn't be upset if Bruce didn't want to meet them, but he can't help thinking Tony wasn't being truthful. So, Bruce is insisting he's okay, but still clinging to his brother and daddy.

"Is Bruce okay?" Clint worried.

"Yes," Loki said. "He's nervous about Rhodes and his littles coming over." He scoffed inwardly. Nobody bothered to ask if _he's_ okay.... Loki's nervous too, but nobody seems to care to ask! Yeah, Bruce is littler, but Loki gets nervous too! And he gets nervous a lot more often than Bruce does! Nobody seemed to notice Loki getting upset.

Clint frowned. He's excited to meet Rhodes and his littles, but he's more worried about his baby cousin than he is excited. "Maybe they shouldn't come then.... I'm sure it's not too late...."

"No!" Bruce yelled, startling everyone and causing Loki to almost drop him. Thor stepped over and took Bruce into his arms. Bucky had to take Steve back to his room immediately after stepping into the kitchen when Steve started crying due to Bruce's yelling.

"Hey, why are you yelling?" Thor asked softly, bouncing Bruce in his arms.

"They come," he insisted weakly. They have to! He can't make Daddy sad again! Daddy was so sad and scared when he ran away.... He was so happy when Bruce wanted them to come over after all! He can't make Daddy sad like that again. It would break his heart! It would break Bruce's heart to upset his daddy again.

"And they will, but you don't have to yell," Phil scolded gently.

"Sorry...."

"It's okay. Let's sit and have breakfast."

Bucky returned with Steve as Thor set Bruce in his seat. Bucky placed Steve in the high chair. Steve hadn't seemed too eager to get up and eat breakfast, even knowing there was bacon, so Bucky told Steve he would have to sit in the high chair until he ate at least half of his breakfast.

"Where's Uncle Tony?" Clint wondered.

"Probably still asleep," Bucky answered. "He was up all night talking to Rhodes. God, he's like a teenager...."

Tony walked in then. He was too tired to make a sassy retort, so he just glared at Bucky as he walked into the fridge.

"Oh my god," Phil muttered. "Sit down. You're gonna kill yourself. I'll get you some coffee."

Tony hummed a response and sat between Bruce and Loki. Both boys waited until Tony had downed an entire mug of coffee before hugging him tightly.

"Dada!" Bruce cooed.

"Morning, babies," Tony smiled, hugging back. "Did you two sleep good?" He pulled away and cut Loki's food for him before turning to Bruce and feeding him.

Bruce nodded. He got to sleep with Loki in his big boy bed last night! It was so cool!

Loki shrugged. "Bruce kept kicking me in his sleep."

"Did he hurt you?" Tony worried, looking towards Loki's legs to check for bruises.

"No, but I couldn't sleep much."

"You can take a nap with the babies later. Bruce will sleep in his own bed tonight."

Loki hummed quietly as he started to eat his waffles. He doesn't want to nap, but he is really tired....

———

"Hey, Loki," Tony gently nudged the boy's cheek.

"Hmm?" Loki was sitting back in his corner. He hadn't sat there in ages! Once he became comfortable with all the avengers he never even looked in that direction. Tony saw him curl up in the corner when he was taking Bruce to get his diaper changed, but figured Loki would be okay for three minutes and he would go check on him as soon as Bruce was cleaned up. When he came back to the playroom Thor told him how nervous and upset Loki seemed during breakfast and Tony hadn't noticed.

"C'mere. Let's go have a little chat."

Loki's heart started pounding. Is Tony finally deciding to get rid of him? Maybe that's why Bruce ran away last week.... It can't be.... Bruce has been clinging to him since he got home! Maybe Bruce knows Tony is getting rid of Loki and doesn't want him to.... Tony would never want to make Bruce upset, but it's up to Tony whether or not he has to deal with Loki. Maybe he's too big of a responsibility. Too much work.

"You okay, buddy?" Loki was pulled from his thoughts by Tony's question. He looked up at Tony, tears appearing in his eyes.

"I don't wanna go," he said before he could stop himself.

"Go? Go where?"

Loki mentally slapped himself, scooting back to the corner of his bed. "I'm sorry, Tony.... It's your choice. You can get rid of me if you want. I'll be a big boy about it...."

"You thought I was _getting rid of you_? Loki, you got the wrong idea." Tony pulled Loki into his arms and squeezed him tightly. "I'm not getting rid of you. _Ever_. You're mine. I love you. Bruce loves you too. And your cousins and uncles and aunt. You're not going anywhere."

Loki sniffled, looking pitifully at Tony. "Really?" he croaked.

"Really." Tony squeezed his boy tighter. Loki tucked his head into the crook of Tony's neck, curling into his chest.

"What'd you wanna talk about then?"

"I haven't been paying as much attention to you as I should have been and I'm sorry. Thor noticed something before I did. I should have noticed first and talked to you before it got to the point where someone else had to tell me you were upset."

"Upset...?"

"Thor said you seemed nervous and upset during breakfast. Are you nervous about Rhodey and his littles coming over? Or something else?"

Loki didn't speak. Of all the people to notice how he was feeling...it was _Thor_? Thor never noticed his feelings before.

"Hmm?"

Loki sighed inwardly. He doesn't want to upset Tony. Talking about how nervous he is will upset him. He already has Bruce to deal with being nervous. Dealing with Loki too would be too much.

"Loki, I'm more upset you didn't want to come talk to me than I am that you're nervous." Loki cringed. He must have spoken out loud.... "It's normal to be nervous about meeting new people! It's not too much for me to deal with both of you being nervous. The others are all nervous too. Even _Bucky_! If I didn't think I could deal with all of you at once I'd have you all meet them separately. It's not too late to do that, if you want to have a one-on-one meeting with them—"

"No!" Loki interrupted, wincing at his own loud voice. "Sorry for shouting.... But no.... I don't want to meet them alone. I want Bruce n' you n' Clint n' Natasha n' everyone there...."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." He can't meet people alone. He can't.... What if....

"You wanna tell me what's got you so nervous?"

Loki shook his head no.

"Loki...."

Loki grabbed Sleipnir and hugged him tight. "I don't know how they'll be because of New York and...the...y'know...." His nightmares have been getting worse lately. He's told Tori about them and she tries to help, but he can't help being scared of the...he can't even say it anymore. He can't even _think_ their name!

"You're nervous because you think they might react badly to you?" Tony was astonished and somewhat hurt. Did Loki think he would bring people around who would hurt or upset him?

"Yeah.... Even after the lie detector test people still think I'm lying and that I'm to blame...."

"Well those people are a bunch of shmucks. You're to blame for _nothing_. Nothing is your fault. Rhodes and his littles know that. They've known it from the start. They took zero convincing from me to see that you're innocent. They've all had some twitter fights with people who blame you. They know you're a good person, Loki. They won't be rude or scary. I would never bring someone around you if they were going to be mean to you. I wouldn't be friends with someone if they were mean to you! I fired _three_ people from SI because they said you were evil!"

Loki looked at Tony in shock. He fired people just because they didn't like him?

"They'll love you, Loki. Just like I do. If you're really too nervous, though, they can come another day."

Loki shook his head. "No. They can come today. I'm not so nervous anymore." He was truthful. He's still nervous, but not as nervous or upset as he was. Thor actually noticed he was upset and Tony made it better. "But...can I stay with you? And obs'rve for a while until 'm comfortable?"

"Of course, Loki. You can go play or come back to me anytime you want! As long as you're comfortable that's all I care about."

Loki smiled shyly and cuddled close to Tony again. He's so happy Tony's not sending him away! Tony loves him and he loves Tony too!

———

Steve sat on Bucky's lap, holding Bear and Bunny tightly. Loki and Bruce both clung to Tony. Clint curled up between Phil and Natasha. As excited as Clint was earlier, now he's growing anxious. What if Rhodes' littles don't like him? What if they think he's too little to play with them? If Clint is too little then Steve and Bruce would be too little and they would be sad!

"Why is there so much tension in here?" Tony exclaimed, trying to cheer up his family. "Rhodes and his kids will love you all! We'll all have fun! We can go down to the playroom floor. You can play outside since it's nice out today."

"Can we go swimming?" Clint asked, hopeful.

"Another time. The babies don't have swim suits or swim diapers yet. I ordered some, but they haven't come yet."

Clint pouted, but was glad at the promise they could go swimming soon. He _loves_ swimming!

"They here?" Steve asked, nearly inaudible.

"Almost," Tony answered. "They should be another 10 minutes."

Bruce squeezed Loki's hand when he heard those words. That's so soon...! He's not sure he's ready to meet so many new people at once, even if they're his daddy's friends and Daddy loves and trusts them.

"Let's watch some TV!" Tony suggested. "Mickey Mouse?"

"Can we watch Jake?" Clint begged.

"Sure, buddy." Tony turned on the TV and put Jake and the Neverland Pirates on. Clint happily turned his attention to the TV. The other kids slowly pulled their faces from their daddys' chests to watch the TV. The tense atmosphere soon dissipated.

" _Colonel Rhodes is on his way up with Oscar and Sasha_ ," JARVIS announced as Jake was turned back to normal after Hook had turned him to stone.

Clint dove into Phil's chest right before the elevator doors opened.

"Hello!" Rhodes greeted. His two littles hid behind him, clutching each other and him tightly. The girl had her thumb in her mouth.

Bruce and Loki had gone back to hiding their faces against Tony.

"Looks like we have some shy littles here, Rhodey," Tony chuckled, trying to get his babies to let go of him.

"I'm not shy!" Clint exclaimed, jumping off of Phil's lap. Phil sucked in a breath, hoping Clint wouldn't do something to upset or scare anyone. Instead, he walked up to Rhodes, staying a few feet away. "I'm Clint! This is my elephant, Esther!"

"Hi, Clint," Rhodes greeted, smiling. "And Esther. I've heard a lot about you! You can call me Rhodey if you'd like."

Clint smiled back. "Hi, Rhodey!"

Rhodes gently pulled his littles out from behind him. The girl turned and hid her face in his chest. "This is Oscar and Ms. Shy-pants is Sasha."

"Ms. Shy-pants?" Tony asked, raising one eyebrow. "First of all, she's not even wearing pants."

Sasha wore a shirt with owls on it and a blue tutu.

"Yeah, Daddy!" Sasha pulled away and crossed her arms, pouting up at her daddy.

"Okay, sorry, little Miss!"

Sasha turned towards the rest of the room and backed up against Rhodes, waving shyly. "Hi...."

Steve made his way to Clint, feeling shy. "'M Steve!" He announced, hugging Bear tightly.

"Hi, Steve," Oscar greeted. "What's your bear's name?"

"Name's Bear! N' I got Bunny from Unca Tony! N' my Mickey from Aunt Tasha!" Steve ran around, showing off all of his toys. Clint chimed in with his own toys every once in a while.

Bucky rolled his eyes fondly and stood. "Sit down, Stevie, you're making me dizzy just watching you."

Steve blushed and sat at the toy box with Clint and Oscar.

"I'm Bucky. It's nice to finally meet you!" Bucky and Rhodes shook hands. Sasha stared at Bucky's arm silently.

"Don't stare," Rhodes admonished.

Sasha blushed. "Sorry for starin', Mr. Bucky."

"Aw, it's alright, sweetheart. I don't mind."

"Still.... 'S rude. Don't like when people look at my leg."

It was then Bucky noticed the prosthetic leg in place of her left leg. From a distance it looked normal, but up close it was clearly a prosthetic.

Bucky smiled kindly and offered Sasha his flesh hand. "Wanna come see Uncle Tony and meet the others? The boys are kinda loud, huh?"

"Uncle Tony!" Sasha nodded and took the hand.

"Hi, Princess!" Tony smiled. "I missed you!"

Loki looked up at Sasha and noticed her tutu. "I like your tutu," he declared. "It's pretty."

Sasha smiled and twirled. "Thank you!"

Loki smiled back. "I'm Loki! I'm Bruce's big brother!"

Bruce peeked out at everyone from Tony's chest. He offered a quiet "hi" before pressing his face back against Tony's chest, next to the arc reactor.

"Your eyes are pretty, Bruce!" Sasha complimented.

Bruce looked at her again. "Th'nk you.... Yours too."

"Why don't you two go say hi to Uncle Rhodey and Oscar?"

Loki nodded and stood to do what was suggested. Now that they're here, he sees their not so bad. Sasha is nice and pretty and if Steve and Clint like Oscar he's probably okay too! He stopped before going to play trucks with them. "Bruce, wanna come with me?"

Bruce shook his head no. "Wan' Dada...." Stevie looks like he's having fun with Clint and Oscar, but they're being a little too loud for him. Sasha is quiet.

Loki frowned, but didn't push. "Okay. We can play blocks later if you want!"

"Kay." Bruce curled back against Tony, but stayed facing out.

"Hello, Sasha," Thor greeted, softly. "It's very nice to meet such a sweet little girl such as you!"

Sasha blushed. "Hi...."

Rhodes chuckled. "Little Miss has a little crush on Thor!" That was evident from the state of her bedroom—Thor bedsheets, Thor posters, a lamp shaped like Thor's hammer....

"Daddy!" Sasha squealed, embarrassed.

"Aww, did I embarrass you?" Rhodes teased. "I'm sorry, baby girl." Rhodes hugged Sasha and kissed her forehead.

Sasha huffed and plopped down on the couch next to Tony.

Thor crouched in front of Sasha, smiling kindly. He waited for her to look at him, shyly.

"Would you like to come see my hammer?"

Sasha's eyes widened. She looked between Rhodey and Tony, silently begging to be allowed to go.

"You know, I think it'd be rude to refuse," Rhodes trailed off. "Go on, Sash."

Sasha jumped up, excitedly and followed Thor to the god's bedroom.

"That sounded so much like an innuendo," Rhodes murmured after they had left.

"In- _your_ -endo," Tony added.

"You have a baby on your lap. Tais-toi."

Tony pouted.

"It's no wonder people never believed you about your classification when you two are together," Phil commented, rolling his eyes. "Hey, Rhodes. It's nice to see you again."

"You too, Phil. I hope Tony hasn't been causing you too much trouble."

"Only on Thursday's."

"I am _right here!_ " Tony pointed out.

"Daddy, Uncle Tony, look!"

Thor carried Sasha into the playroom on his back, a giant smile on his face. Sasha had a matching smile. One fist was held in Thor's hair and the other held mjolnir.

"Oh my...did she...."

Everyone stared in bewilderment.

"You're worthy," Loki explained. "Even Steve and Bruce can't lift mjolnir."

Sasha grinned as she slid off Thor's back and ran to Rhodes.

"You sure are amazing," Rhodes squeezed Sasha tightly.

———

"Nap time!" Bucky exclaimed, happily. He's exhausted! The kids decided to go to the  playroom floor and begged the adults to play with them. They played tag, hide n' seek, played on the swings and slides and the monkey bars and rock climbing wall, and they played in the ball pit and arranged the tunnels as a maze. Loki got lost in the maze and Bucky had to go find him but he got stuck in the tunnels until Tony rearranged the tunnels and allowed Bucky to wiggle his way out. Steve was no help. He laughed at the sight of Bucky's ass stuck out the end of the tunnels.

All the kids pouted and whined. Even Bruce who had finally left his daddy's arms to play with the other kids! "Wanna keep playing, Daddy," Steve begged.

"You can play more later. They're not leaving yet."

"Yeah, and we're gonna be here for a few weeks, anyway," Rhodes said. "I just have to find a hotel still—"

"Um, no," Tony interrupted. "You three are staying here! We have room for you. Steve and Bruce can sleep together for a while and Sasha and Oscar can stay in his room. You'll be rooming with me."

"Tony, I don't know if that's—" Rhodey started, only to be cut off by all the kids cheering.

"Oscar, you can stay in my room if you want!" Clint exclaimed. "Or-or Oscar and Loki can both stay in my room and we can have a sleep over and build a tent and—"

"Absolutely not," Phil stated. "You three won't sleep if we let you have a sleep over together."

Clint pouted.

"Maybe you can build a tent after the babies wake up from their nap," Natasha suggested.

"Okay! Can we stay here and play while they nap?"

"As long as there's an adult with you," Tony said, lifting Bruce onto his hip. "I can't stay with you; I have to put Bruce down for his nap."

Clint pouted. He was having fun with Uncle Tony! Tony arranged the tunnels into really cool obstacle courses for them!

"I'll stay with you children!" Thor volunteered. Thor was the only one to seem to have as much energy as the kids.

Sasha became noticeably happier when Thor said he would stay and play with them.

"I'd better stay and babysit Thor," Natasha hummed. "Who knows what kind of trouble he could get into with these four?"

Tony's life flashed before his eyes. "Keep a close eye on Thor, Nat. I don't want my tower in flames."

"That was one time that I set that toaster on fire!" Thor protested.

"Yes, but now you have four extra sets  
of helping hands."

Loki yawned loudly, blushing as he did so.

"Maybe only three. Lo, you wanna come take a nap?"

Loki shook his head. "I want to keep playing!"

"You can play more later. You look exhausted, buddy."

"Please, Tony?"

Tony sighed. He knows Loki will probably fall asleep early tonight. "Alright. Have fun with your cousins." He kissed Loki's forehead before following Phil, Rhodey, Bucky, and Steve to the elevator.

Tony felt a tug against his shirt before he could step inside the elevator. He turned to see Oscar.

"Can I come with you?" He whispered.

Tony's brow furrowed. Oscar, having his little age around 8, almost never takes naps unless he's sick.

"Sure, kid. C'mon."

"Are you feeling okay, Oscar?" Rhodey asked, pressing the back of his hand to the child's forehead.

"'M fine!" Oscar pulled his head away. "I missed Uncle Tony.... Can we lay down and watch TV?"

Tony smiled. "Of course we can. Just let me put Bruce down first. Why don't you go potty, then you can get in my bed and ask JARVIS to put something on TV. I'll join you when Bruce is asleep."

"Okay!" Oscar ran off as soon as the elevator doors opened.

"You think he's really okay?" Rhodes asked. He followed Tony to Bruce's room, leaning against the wall while Tony changed the baby.

"Well, it's been almost a year since I've seen him, so I don't blame him for missing me," Tony began. He sat in the rocking chair with Bruce and began feeding him his bottle that Phil had prepared earlier. "I think he might be a bit overwhelmed. Y'know, meeting all these new people. He definitely had fun, but it can still be a lot to meet so many people at once."

Rhodes hummed and took the empty bottle from Tony. "Makes sense. I'll talk to him tonight. I'll check on Sasha too. She was really nervous about coming here. Not just because of Thor, either. She was scared about meeting Bruce and Loki because she didn't know if they'd like her."

Tony scoffed quietly as he placed Bruce in his crib and tucked him in. "Did you tell her that's ridiculous? How could anybody _not_ love her?!"

Rhodes smiled softly. "I know. I did. I think she warmed up to them pretty quick, though."

" _Colonel Rhodes, Sasha skinned her elbow playing tag with the boys. She refuses to let anyone but you care for her,_ " JARVIS stated.

"Duty calls," Rhodes sighed, returning to the elevator. "See if you can get Oscar to sleep for an hour; he hasn't been sleeping enough the past few weeks. Insomnia's been acting up. I'm taking him to get new meds soon."

"Alright. Go take care of my princess now!"

Rhodes saluted before jogging to the elevator and going back down to his baby girl.

Tony went to his own room to see Oscar fast asleep cuddling his pillow. Tony smiled and placed the blanket over him, kissing his forehead. God, he’s missed his niece and nephew. They’ll definitely be coming over more often now!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> translations:  
> malen'kiy yastreb - little hawk  
> Tais-toi - shut up


End file.
